Something Unexpected
by Katrina Kenyon
Summary: In which Violet Turner is lonely and celibate and starts to see Charlotte King in a whole different light. Femslash Violet/Charlotte. Now adding Bounus Chapters!
1. Celibacy

**Celibacy Part (1/?) **

Violet Turner hated Charlotte King. She really hated her. First of all the she-devil slept with Cooper, her best friend! She had stolen her best friend. And then she had the nerve to lie to him about her practice, her practice, which was conveniently located in the same building as Oceanside Wellness, and the worst part was that she may have actually loved him. Loved him!

And Charlotte had sex with Cooper! Lots and lots of porny Internet sex! And She, who did not sleep with other people's best friends, she who did not use weird Internet dating sites to get men, was not getting any. Zip, zilch, nada. And she was painfully aware of this and, well, so was everybody else.

She was edgy, prone to outbursts and not very friendly these days. Sam and Pete were avoiding her wrathful ways, Addison and Naomi were at St. Ambrose and Cooper was trying to 'get back on the horse' with his stupid dating sites. It was a little over a month and Cooper had decided that he was over Charlotte. Or so he said.

So here Violet was, in the reception area trying to reschedule one of her client's appointments, when the tiger walked.

"Where is my patient?!" Charlotte demanded.

She looked over at the petite blonde, who despite her frustration, was looking perfect in her crisp white blouse, black pencil skirt and black Pradas. Violet gave Dell a questioning look before slinking back to her office to hide, but she could still hear the altercation happening in the lobby.

"Your patient?" Dell asked.

"Yes, my patient! That you stole."

"I didn't steal your patient," Dell said in all his cute surfer boy confusion.

"Fine, Addison stole my patient. I need to know where she is."

"She's at St. Ambrose's running some tests on _her_ patient. They should be back soon."

Charlotte took a deep breath and politely said that she would wait for them to come back. "However long it takes."

Silently, Dell shot Violet a look that said, 'help me', but she scurried away to the kitchen, not wanting to get involved. Sadly the stars were not aligned in Violet's favor this morning. So as she was searching through the boxes of old noodles and containers of mystery meals Charlotte marched in, helping herself to a cup of Oceanside Wellness coffee.

"The place is practically empty," Charlotte drawled in her annoying accent. "Slow day?"

Violet looked away from the fridge a moment to see the knowing smirk on Charlotte's lips.

Yes, the day had been slow; not that she would ever tell the she-devil that. So she ignored her and grabbed a slightly bruised apple from the fridge. Charlotte continued to observe her, smirking over her stolen coffee and leaning forward against the wooden island surface as Violet searched for a knife to slice up the apple. Finding one, she turned back to the island.

Charlotte's presence was doing nothing for her nerves, but neither was the celibacy. She plunged the knife into the apple, not cutting just stabbing, and it struck her as being very therapeutic so she repeated the action once more.

"Something wrong?" Charlotte raised a perfectly arched eyebrow in question.

"Yes!" She hadn't meant to confess that, especially not to her. "No, I mean no!"

"You look tense to me," Charlotte commented.

Violet didn't grace her with an answer and worked on slicing her apple. "Dammit!" She had sliced through her skin. Violet grimaced in her pain, while Charlotte surprisingly jumped into action. The petite blonde grabbed a handful of napkins and applied pressure to the wound.

She was aware of how close Charlotte was to her and sadly this is the closest anyone had been to her in awhile.

"Careless," Charlotte chastised. Yes, Violet was aware that she should have paid attention while using a sharp object. It was all Charlotte' fault. Charlotte had distracted her, taunted her, and had broken her best friend leaving her no time to have relationship of her own. She was lonely, achingly lonely and celibate and it was Charlotte's fault.

She pulled away from the blonde, making effort to hide her discontentment and turned her back on her. A few awkward seconds later Charlotte spoke again, in a much softer voice, "How is he?"

"How do you think," she snapped.

A hesitant pause and then, "If he had stayed with me, I would have messed him up somehow."

And then she remembered. Charlotte was a broken person. A person who was not allowed displays of affection as a child, a person who had major intimacy problems, a person who pushed everyone who tried to help her away. She should know. She was the one who had given her the psych. examination when Charlotte couldn't sleep.

"You don't know that Charlotte."

"Yes, I do." Her voice was so forlorn, so heartbreakingly sad. Charlotte was at Violet's side again reaching for the wad of napkins. Something happened in that moment though. Charlotte skin brushed against hers leaving a tingly path and she felt a warm breath tickle the crook of her neck, which made her shiver in a good way. She pulled her wounded hand away slowly from that warm hand and hoped Charlotte wouldn't notice light blush that had appeared on her cheeks.

She was starting to see Charlotte in a whole new light. She could she why Cooper had wanted her in the first place. There was something were sexy about the bossy little blonde. She shook her head of those thoughts. It's just the celibacy talking.

"Turner? You loose your brain or something?" She watched the blonde's lips as the sarcastic words were uttered. They did look kind of kissable. "What are you staring at?"

Before she knew it, she was grabbing the front of Charlotte's blouse and crashing her lips against those kissable ones. Her lips were soft, Violet remarked, and Charlotte was kissing back. Why was she kissing back?

Wait! This wasn't right. She was kissing Charlotte, who she hated and on top of that was a woman. She ended the kiss a zoomed out of the kitchen without looking back.

She passed Dell on her mad dash for the elevator and quickly told him she was going out for lunch.

"Turner!" Charlotte shouted behind her. She cringed when she heard the outraged voice, but the door slid shut and she was safe.

Why on earth did she do that?

_God I'm getting desperate…_

The elevator pinged and then the doors opened to the ground floor. "But still, it was a good kiss," she muttered getting a look from a little boy holding onto his mother's hand.


	2. Run

**Part 2: Run**

Violet didn't return after her fake lunch break. She didn't want to go back to that building and run into Charlotte again. Instead she left a message back at the practice and canceled her single appointment for that afternoon.

She returned the next day, hopeful that Charlotte had forgotten the whole thing.

"You have messages," Dell said as she walked through the lobby. Addison, Sam and Pete were standing by the reception desk, presumably checking their messages too. She took the pink slips and flipped through the messages. It was going to be another relatively slow day; she only had two patients today.

"Did you say something to Charlotte yesterday," Dell asked.

"Maybe."

This caught the attention of Addison, Sam and Pete.

"She's seemed a little…upset," Dell said carefully. Charlotte was a little more then upset when she yelled after Violet yesterday.

"Is that why she was so crabby yesterday," Addison mused. "She seemed a little more intense than usual."

"Charlotte yelled at her," Dell told them. He turned back to Violet. "What did you say to her?"

"Nothing. She was just being Charlotte King and…" Violet was at a loss for words. She picked up her messages and moved past the group, but Addison followed her with Naomi, who had just came out from her office, hot on their heels.

"Something wrong," Naomi asked.

"Violet got into a fight with Charlotte," Addison supplied. "Apparently Charlotte's pissed."

Naomi's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, Vi what did you do to her?"

"Did you hit her," Addison asked.

Violet shot her a look.

Addison shrugged. "What? It's no secret that Charlotte's not your favorite person and you've been walking around these past few days like there's a storm cloud over your head."

"I don't have any storm clouds," Violet grumbled. "Can we just drop this?"

Addison and Naomi exchanged a look, but otherwise said nothing else.

The day passed pleasantly enough and there was only minor teasing about Violet's fight with Charlotte and by the time she came back from lunch she was starting to feel good. The practice, well beside herself, was busy and full of noise when she reentered.

She settled down on her office couch, reviewing some notes on a patient, who was expected to arrive soon. She didn't lift her head up when she heard the click clack of heels enter the room.

"Have a seat. I'll be with you in a moment." She made one last note, closed the file and looked up to see Charlotte King, standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

Violet stood up quickly. She was not expecting confrontation with Charlotte, at least not so soon and not here.

"Violet Turner." She said these words with malice.

Violet panicked. Her first instinct was to remove herself from the situation, but she couldn't help giving a quick look in Charlotte's direction. What she saw made her prolong her look. The petite blonde was wearing a low cut clingy red shirt. Her eyes darted to Charlotte's chest quickly and almost curiously. She had nice breasts Violet decided, but this really wasn't the time for admiring.

Charlotte followed her eye movement and caught on to what Violet was looking at. "Are you looking at -."

She didn't hear the rest of that question; she fled the room instead with her face flaming. She heard the click clack of heels and cursed silently. Charlotte was following her. This was stupid. Really, where was she going to go? A few people from the lobby glanced in their direction, Dell included.

She slipped into Addison's office and closed the door behind her.

"Is that Charlotte out there," Addison asked from her desk.

"Yes. Make her go away."

"Violet just talk to her. She's not going to leave until you do." At that point Charlotte started to knock on the door.

Violet's prospects weren't bright. There was an angry little blonde out there who was going to rip her apart and she was just going to have to let that happen.

"Maybe I can make a run for it."

Addison sighed, "Do you really not want to talk to her?"

"Yes!"

"Fine, I'll make her go away."


	3. Happy

**Part Three: Happy**

She hadn't meant to, but after Addison got Charlotte to leave and after she left the practice, she started to fantasize about Charlotte King. How would it feel to touch her, to run her fingers through that silky blonde hair? The places she could kiss…

She really had to stop fantasizing. This was getting ridiculous. She hated Charlotte King. Right? But it was getting harder to hate the heartbroken doctor. Charlotte was lonely; lonely and broken. But she really did have to stop thinking about her like that.

Her morning at Oceanside Wellness had been blessedly busy and no one had the time to bug her about Charlotte. Now she was just lending her services to Naomi since she wasn't doing anything at the moment. She was in the supply room gathering a few pink blankets in her hands for the soon to be newborn.

The door opened and she expected Dell to walk through, but instead it was Charlotte who walked in.

"Let's talk," Charlotte said brusquely.

Her gaze scanned over the Charlotte's outfit. The petite doctor wore a dress that was same shade of green as her eyes and showed off her legs. She let her gaze travel from Charlotte's very attractive legs, to her chest, to her kissable lips and finally to her beautiful green eyes. Violet blushed and turned away when she remembered that she was openly ogling the woman.

"Sure, we can talk," she said softly.

"You kissed me," Charlotte said getting straight to the point.

"Yes, I did," she agreed.

"You hate me."

"No, I don't. Okay, I did, but that was because…well you know. But anyways I don't hate you." She was rambling, something she did when she got emotional. "In fact I kind of…well…like you."

Charlotte stood there, fixing Violet with one of her stares. "You like me," she said incredulously. "That's a…something unexpected."

"You're telling me," Violet muttered under her breath.

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow at that.

"You got anything else to say for yourself Turner?" Charlotte's accent flared a little at the beginning of her sentence and Violet found herself liking that southern accent even more. She had always had a thing for accents.

They had come to an impasse, neither saying anything, and Violet found herself throwing caution into the wind and stepping closer to the tiger. Charlotte stood her ground, as expected, but eyed her warily.

She was going to kiss Charlotte one more time before she got rid of the stupid notion that she could really like this woman. She leaned in closer, until her lips were almost touching Charlotte's.

But Charlotte pushed her away at the last moment. "What are you doing?"

Violet surged ahead ignoring all protest and the few muffled words the tried to escape past those kissable lips. She let her hands find their way to that silky blonde hair. It felt as good as it looked. But Charlotte was having none of that and stomped her very chic Nine West stiletto on Violet's foot.

"Oww! Charlotte!"

"It's Dr. King."

Dr. King? Hadn't Charlotte been calling her by her first name since yesterday? The blonde smirked as her face scrunched up in pain. Let it be known, that no one intimidates Dr. King. Violet was a little angry, well that and embarrassed. She charged at Charlotte pushing her against the door with a satisfying thud. There was no escape. She had Charlotte securely pinned against the door.

She tried for Dr. King's lips, but the blonde turned her head to the side, taking away one opportunity and creating another. Her teeth nipped along Charlotte's collarbone and her lips pressed kisses along her long elegant neck. Her action earned her a breathy moan, making her pause for a moment in wonder.

Charlotte turned to face Violent with a certain glint in her eyes and proceeded to capture Violet's lips with her own in a surprise attack. Violet enjoyed the feel of Charlotte's tongue along her bottom lip.

Charlotte, she decided with certainty, was a good kisser and she wondered what else the blonde could do with her tongue. She let Charlotte take control for a while enjoying the sensations they created.

She let out a little squeak of surprise when she felt Charlotte's sneaky hand grab her ass. A chuckle rumbled through the blonde's chest. Apparently she found Violet's reaction funny.

The two split apart at the sound of Naomi's voice. "Hey Vi, what's taking you so long with the blankets."

The door opened and Charlotte was out of there like a bat out of hell.

Naomi shot a questioning look in Dr. King's direction. "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing."

"You know," Naomi said picking up the pink blankets she had dropped. "You should stop fighting with her."

"We're not fighting."

"Okay," Naomi said putting her hands on her hips. "So Dell was just lying when he told us that Charlotte yelled at you and Addison didn't have to get rid of her for you yesterday?"

"We're not fighting," she repeated again as they strolled into the lobby.

"Who's not fighting?" Addison asked not looking up from the file in her hand.

"Violet and Charlotte."

Addison finally peeled her eyes away from the file. "I'm going to have to agree with Naomi on this one. Fighting with Charlotte; not good."

"Did she come here today just to argue with you, because Dell said she didn't ask for any files or about any patients," Naomi said.

Violet gave up. There was no way she was going get them to believe her. "Fine we were arguing." She threw up her hands and stormed away. "Are you happy now?"

_I know I am._


	4. Violet!

**Part Four: Violet!**

It was two days after Violet had met with Charlotte in the supply room. She knew that whatever had happened between them was over, but she also knew that she wanted to do it again. But knowing that it was, in fact, over she tried to go back to hating Dr. King.

She scribbled her signature over forms that would allow her patient, Marla Bencentt, to return to work. Once she was done with the form she put it in the first drawer of her desk.

The door opened to her office. She looked up.

"Dr. King. What a pleasant surprise." The petite blonde was wearing a satiny dark blue dress with heels in the same color.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, closed the door and then shut the blinds, blocking the view into the room. "Get on the couch, Turner."

She raised her eyebrows in question. "Okay?"

"I'm gonna kiss ya again," Charlotte replied in a thick accent.

That was all it took to get her on the couch. Charlotte gave her a predatory smile for obeying.

Charlotte was true to her word. As soon as she sat down the blonde pounced on her, which was how she ended up on her back with Charlotte laying on top of her. She wasn't complaining by any means. Charlotte was aggressive and a little rough. And she was sure those soft kissable lips were going to leave bruises on her own, but still she enjoyed the hot, steamy kisses and the velvety feeling of Charlotte's tongue.

After awhile Charlotte pulled away from her face and swung a leg over to comfortably straddle Violet. Charlotte stared down at her, suddenly fascinated with the buttons on her blouse.

"Never done this before," Charlotte murmured running her slender hands up and down the line of buttons of Violet's blouse. She wondered just how courageous Charlotte was.

"Neither have I," she admitted.

Charlotte nodded her head and undid the first button, then the second and the third and so on. A rush of cold air brushed her skin as Charlotte exposed her. Ironically she was wearing a lacy bra in the same color as her name. The blonde sucked in a breath of air and her eyes widened when she looked down at her.

"Something wrong," Violet asked.

"Course not," Charlotte snapped. Dr. King took her skillful hands and brushed along the flat plain of her stomach up to her breasts. She felt a number of very enjoyable sensations and her skin tingled wherever the blonde touched. She closed her eyes and let the blonde slip her hands beneath the purple lace.

"Oh, Charlotte," she moaned.

Charlotte took that as a cue and lowered her head to nip at the skin along the edges of the lace. Heat pooled at her core. She was wet. She was aroused. And it was all because of Charlotte.

She grated her hips against Charlotte's and was rewarded with muffled moan and a harder bite. Not wanting the blonde to have all the fun she hiked up the skirt of Charlotte's dress and slide a hand beneath black silky panties and into her wet, pulsating core. Charlotte leaned forward to give her more access. Muscles tightened instantly around her fingers and slender hands fondled Violet's breasts as kissable lips sucked away at her neck.

Violet worked her fingers in and out of Charlotte, finding a good rhythm. She liked watching Charlotte's face as she did this. The blonde had closed her eyes, thrown her head back and was making little half moans. She felt Charlotte spasm and grind against her palm.

When she came, Charlotte yelled, "Violet!" A little too loudly, but Violet really didn't mind. She just felt like laughing. Who would have guessed it? Sex with Charlotte.

The blonde collapsed against her, breathes coming in fast and shallow. She stroked that silky yellow hair and pushed down the hem of Charlotte's dress. Only a few seconds passed before Charlotte was back up again. Deft hands unbuttoned and unzipped Violet's black dress pants.

"Allow me to return the favor," Charlotte murmured

0oo0oo0

"Violet!"

They had distinctly heard Charlotte's voice coming from Violet's office. They being, Addison, Naomi, Sam, Pete and Dell.

"Do you think they're fighting," Naomi asked.

"It didn't sound like a shout of anger," Pete commented looking perplexed.

Addison rolled her eyes. "What else would they be doing in there?"

Shame hushed them. "Guys quiet, Cooper's coming. He's not going to like that Charlotte's here."


	5. Glow

**Part 5: Glow**

She had finally broken her vow of celibacy, and with Charlotte no less, and it showed when she came in the next day.

"Morning Naomi," she said cheerfully as she strolled into the kitchen area. Naomi smiled and finished pouring coffee into her mug.

"Someone's happy today," Naomi observed.

"Who's happy?" Pete asked as he and Addison walked in.

"Violet," Naomi answered.

"I'm not happy. Well I mean I am," Violet amended, "But there's no specific reason for it. I can just be happy."

"Okay Violet," Addison said, trying to conceal a smile.

"You're happy that's good," Pete, mused. "Did you kiss and make up with Charlotte or something?"

She blushed, bright red. "W-what? What would make you say that?"

Addison and Naomi each gave her a weird look for her reaction. "I mean," Pete said, "Are you and Charlotte done arguing? You seemed pretty stressed out about it."

"Oh! Yeah, we worked out our differences." No one seemed to mind Violet's vague answer and continued to pour coffee and toast bagels. Cooper walked in refilled his mug and leaned on the counter to watch Violet.

"Your kinda happy today," Cooper commented. Violet spun around to face him. "You're kinda glowing too. Like a afterglow or something." He paused, then jumped and snapped his fingers. "You had sex!"

"I did not!"

"You do kind of glow," Addison agreed.

"I do not glow!"

"Violet had sex," Cooper, sing-songed. "Finally. God, I thought you were going to explode or something. Are you going to start being nice again? No more grouchy Violet?"

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen.

Cooper had some sort of weird sixth sex sense. She wondered how mad he would be if he found out about Charlotte. But that was just a one-time thing, okay a two-time thing if you counted the supply closet and a three-time thing if you counted the kitchen kiss. Really, this was the end of whatever was going on between them.

She glanced back at the kitchen only to have Cooper give her a thumbs up. She ignored this and headed to the elevator. She would have to get her coffee downstairs to avoid all of the kitchen drama.

Charlotte was in line for coffee when she got down there. This really didn't surprise her. Charlotte just happened to be everywhere. She got in line behind the petite doctor.

"Good morning Charlotte." The blonde gave her a sharp look over her shoulder. "I mean Dr. King."

Charlotte said nothing in return.

"Okay then." It's not like she wanted to talk to Charlotte, but it would be nice to at least be acknowledged. "I glow. That's what they told me this morning. I have an afterglow apparently."

Charlotte turned and examined her. "You do," she agreed.

The line moved, they fell into silence and Violet ended up staring at Charlotte's backside. She did have a nice ass.

"So," she started again. "About yesterday…"

Charlotte turned around with a scowl on her pretty face. "Look, I don't mind what we did." The blonde looked around quickly to see if anyone was looking at them. "We can do it again if you want, but you don't have go on like we're close or somethin'. Don't waste your time with all that pretty talk." As usual Charlotte was harsh and straight to the point.

"I like you," she said, and she really did mean it. There was just something intriguing about this woman.

It was Charlotte's turn in line. She watched the woman purchase her coffee and then jerk her head in the direction of a private corner. Violet gave up her spot in line to follow.

"I can do sex," Charlotte began. "If that's what you want, then we can do that."

"Let's do that."


	6. Something's Going On

**Part 6: Something's Going On**

Violet was hoping to run into Charlotte today and as she waited for the elevator to come and take her up her wish was granted.

Charlotte didn't say anything to her, didn't even make any eye contact with her. The elevator came and they stepped in. Charlotte hung out in the back while she stayed close to the front.

"Ten o'clock, my office," Charlotte said from behind her.

"What?"

"I want to have sex with you. Ten o'clock. My office," She repeated.

She smiled. Charlotte wanted her. "Okay, Charlotte."

"Wipe that goofy grin off your face."

She laughed out loud at this.

The elevator pinged at the second floor and Addison stepped on. Addison sensed that she was interrupting something, judging by the suppressed smile on Violet's face and the way Charlotte couldn't look her in the eye. She was curious now. They didn't seem angry at each other. The mood in here was almost amicable.

Addison looked at Violet and then Charlotte. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something weird was definitely going on.

Charlotte stepped off the elevator onto her floor and Addison turned to face her co-worker as soon as the door shut again.

"What's the deal with you two?"

"Deal? There's no deal," Violet said trying to play it cool.

"Uh, huh," Addison said.

When they came to their floor they went their separate ways. Addison went to talk to Naomi about Violet and Charlotte and Violet went to her office to wait for her eight o'clock patient.

At ten o'clock Violet found herself walking through the Pacific Wellness Center lobby. Charlotte was already waiting for her in her pristine office.

"Dr. Turner," Charlotte said as she let her in.

0oo0oo0

"I'm telling you, Nay, something is going on between them," Addison insisted.

"Between Violet and Charlotte?"

Addison nodded

Naomi took a bite of her granola bar before speaking. "And what do you think is _going_ on?"

"Oh, I don't know," Addison answered. "First they were fighting for some unknown reason and now…poof." She made a circular gesture with her hand. "No more fighting. You know I think they were talking on the elevator this morning when I stepped on. Not fighting, but actual talking. Violet was smiling too."

"Maybe they're friends now," Naomi suggested.

"Who's friends with who now?" Dell asked as he entered the kitchen area.

"Charlotte and Violet," Addison supplied. "I don't know, Nay. Something's going on and it's not friendship."

"I'm going to have to agree with Addison and does anyone know where Violet is anyways?" Dell asked. "I have a message for her and I can't find her anywhere."

"She's not in her office?" Naomi asked with a mouthful of granola. Dell shook his head no. "Did you try Cooper?"

"Not there either."

"That's weird," Addison mused aloud. Then she smiled. "I bet you twenty bucks that she's in Charlotte's office. If they're friends now, then she's going to be downstairs in the enemy practice being all buddy-buddy with the tiger."

Addison turned and headed out of the kitchen.

0oo0oo0

Meanwhile Violet and Charlotte were enjoying the aftereffects of their secret activity.

Violet was lying on her back, on the expensive black couch on Charlotte's office. Her shirt had been discarded on the floor, her shirt was hiked up and the front clasp of her bra had been snapped open. Her hand was drawing lazy circles on Charlotte's bare back who was coincidentally lying on top of her.

"Mmm. That was good," Violet murmured.

"Of course it was, baby girl."

The little name peaked Violet's interest. Charlotte didn't seem like someone who gave lovers cute little names. And with her accent it ended up sounding more like, baby gurl.

Charlotte cringed when she realized what she had said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"No, no it's okay. I kind of like it."

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow. "You do?" She asked dubiously.

She nodded and watched something like relief pass through Charlotte's eyes.

"Does this mean I get to call you something?"

"No," Charlotte spat out with a surprising amount of venom.

"You could be sweetie pie or honey bear. Oh, I know…love doodle!"

Charlotte growled another, "No," before biting a particularly sensitive spot on Violet's neck.

A knock at the door interrupted their cozy moment. Charlotte shot up and searched the room for her clothes.

"I thought you said no one would bother you."

"I did," Charlotte said while buttoning up her blouse.

Another knock at the door. "Would ya give me a moment?!" Charlotte snapped at whoever was at the door.

Violet chuckled at this, but managed to catch the attention of the angry blonde. "Hush up you and get under the desk."

She followed Charlotte's order, while the petite doctor unlocked her door and hurried back to her desk. She heard the door open and felt Charlotte's legs press against her as the blonde sat down.

"Where you in the middle of something?" A familiar voice asked.

_Addison?_

"What do you want Montgomery?"

"Was there someone in here?" Addison asked innocently.

_Why would Addison want to know that?_

Forgetting about Violet, Charlotte crossed her legs kicking the therapist in the jaw. Violet bit her tongue to stop herself from grunting in pain.

"Do you have a real question?" Charlotte drawled.

"About that patient you stole from me the other day-."

Charlotte interrupted. "I believe you stole Mrs. Gurezz from me first."

"Well her test results came in at St. Ambrose. I'm not busy right now. I could go get them for you, if you want."

"That would be…nice. Thank you Dr. Montgomery."

"No problem Charlotte."

When the door closed shut Violet popped out from under the desk and clutched her jaw.

"God, you kick hard." Violet groaned.

Charlotte examined her face. "Sorry, 'bout that," Charlotte said before placing a few gentle kisses along her jaw.

She was a little surprised at Charlotte's tenderness, but relished the moment anyways. She realized that she liked Charlotte more than she originally thought.

"I should go," she told the petite doctor.

"I guess," Charlotte said, while busying herself with the papers on her desk. Was it just her or did Charlotte sound a little reluctant to say goodbye?

"Hey," she said taking Charlotte's face in her hands. "I'll see you later, okay?" She gave the blonde a gentle kiss of her own before leaving.

0oo0oo0

"Soooo," Naomi said with a grin. "Was she there?"

"No," Addison replied defeated.

"Hand it over."

Addison regretfully reached into her purse, pulled out a crisp twenty dollar bill and slapped it into her friend's hand.

"Thank you." Naomi laughed.


	7. Fish

**Part 7: Fish**

It was six in the morning when Cooper called her. He wanted to get breakfast with her, which wasn't unusual. The unusual part was that he wanted to get fish for breakfast. And they weren't exactly fish people, but Cooper had insisted. "They're having a special," he said. So here they were, at this little restaurant on the docks, waiting for their tilapia.

"So what's with the scarf," Copper asked pointing to the blue silk wrapped around her neck.

"Nothing," she said, placing a hand on the fabric. She was really just trying to hide the marks Charlotte made on her.

He grinned. "You're hiding something."

"I am not," She said while throwing her napkin at him. The napkin did nothing to deter Cooper as he reached over the table and swiped Violet's scarf.

"You are!" Cooper leaned in closer to examine her neck. "Violet Turner, you are so having sex!"

"Okay, so I am."

"Who is this person? Wait, do I know this person?" Copper happily twittered.

"Uh…you know this person."

"Well, what does he look like?" Copper paused to throw her napkin back at her. "Tall? Dark? Handsome?"

"Kind of on the short side, blonde and beauti-." She amended herself quickly. "I mean handsome, very handsome."

"Huh, who do I know that's short and blonde? Well there's Charlotte," he laughed. "But I highly doubt that you're sleeping with her. Although, that would be kind of hot, a little girl on girl action."

She was glad he was only joking. For a minute, she thought she had actually been caught. "Cooper you're such a creep. Stop thinking about us like that."

She watched his face as he imagined said fantasy and couldn't help, but smile. She could always count on cooper to make her laugh. And it did seem like he was over Charlotte, just like he said. Things were starting to look up.

"Seriously, you wouldn't want to sleep with her?"

"No, Cooper, I wouldn't. I'm straight."

"But what if you had to?" He asked.

"In what situation would I ever have to sleep with her?" _I can't believe we're actually talking about this._

She watched Cooper mull over it for a few moments. "Okay, so you're stuck in Antarctica with Charlotte and the only way to stay warm and survive the night is to have lots of wild, crazy, lesbian sex!"

"Can't I build a fire?"

He shook his head. "There's no wood."

"What about my cell phone?"

"There's no service there."

"Why am I in Antarctica?"

Copper let out and exasperated sigh. "You have no imagination. Okay what about this: If you had to sleep with either me or Charlotte, who would it be?"

"Oh, that's easy. I'd choose Charlotte over you any day," she laughed.

"See!" He jumped up out of his seat and pointed at her. "You would sleep with her."

"Cooper, shh! Sit back down you're making a scene."

"Aww, I'm just teasing Vi. So who is he?"

"What?" She had forgotten what they were originally talking about. "Oh, yeah, his name is…Charles …Lindberg. Yeah, Charles Lindberg."

"I don't think I know him. Oh, well." He handed Violet her scarf back. "I'm happy for you Vi."

"You're fish," the waiter interrupted before she could thank Cooper.

An hour later and they were back at the practice, well Cooper was. She was in line for coffee on the ground floor of the building. She hoped a caramel frappe with extra whip would take that fish taste out of her mouth. Speaking of the fish, her stomach was beginning to feel a little queasy.

The nausea grew increasingly worse as she progressed up the line. Her stomach was churning now. She looked behind her to locate the public restroom and spotted Charlotte walking into the building.

"Perfect," she muttered.

"Excuse me miss. You're next."

She turned back to the coffee counter and opened her mouth to order, but she felt like hurling that tilapia and rushed out of the line to the restroom. She hoped she made it to the toilet. It would be embarrassing if she puked in front of everybody.

She ran so quickly that she missed the half amused, half concerned look Charlotte gave her.

She did make it to a toilet, just in time to hurl the contents of her stomach into it.

"Stupid Cooper and his stupid fish," she grumbled. "Come on Vi, it's a special," she imitated. "Sure Coop, sounds like fun." She paused to hurl again. "God, I'm going to kill him. Stupid, stupid, stupid, fish."

She missed the sound of the door opening as she complained to herself. Charlotte had the pleasure of listening to her grumble and bitch about Cooper and his fish. The blonde laughed aloud before letting her presence be known to Violet.

"Turner, is that you?"

Violet froze and checked the lock in the stall. _Great_, _Charlotte's here. _"Go away, go away, go away," she whispered. She did not need Charlotte King seeing her like this.

"I can still hear you," Charlotte said dryly.

Violet heard the click clack of heels approach her stall and stop.

"Open up," Charlotte commanded.

She puked in the toilet in response.

"Can't believe you're going to make me do this," Charlotte grumbled to herself.

Violet wondered what Charlotte was going to do, but her question was answered when she saw the blonde's head hovering above her. Charlotte had climbed onto the toilet in the next stall to peer at her.

"Bad fish?" The blonde questioned.

She nodded her head and reached behind her to open the stall door. Charlotte entered the cramped stall and kneeled down beside her. "Are you okay?"

She didn't get a chance to answer, but this time as she threw up the bad fish there were hands holding back her hair. When she was finished Charlotte handed her a wad of toilet paper and rubbed soothing circles on her back. It felt good to have someone take care of her. She flushed and walked out of the stall to wash her hands with the petite doctor following after.

Charlotte leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "You, okay?"

She did feel better now. No more nausea. The hurling must have done the trick. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Charlotte looked at her for a moment before placing a soft, hesitant kiss on her forehead. "Well, I'm glad you're okay." Charlotte stepped back and Violet watched as Charlotte regained her composure and went back to being her prickly little self. "You should go back to your little Oceanside friends."

Violet looked at her. "Maybe I'd rather stay here."

Charlotte opened her mouth and then closed it. Charlotte didn't have any friends, some acquaintances maybe, but no friends. She had some fun with men late at night and then there was Cooper, but she ruined that. And now there was Violet, who slept with her and now was saying that she wouldn't mind being her friend. She should push Violet away to protect her, but she wanted this.

"Don't look so surprised," Violet said, snapping Charlotte out of her reverie. "I told you, I liked you, and I meant it."

"Whatever. Why don't I walk you to the elevator? Don't want you puking on any innocent bystanders."

Violet chuckled at the blonde's sarcasm and thanked her.

"So, no sex today?" Charlotte asked her as they walked out of the restroom.

She let out a full belly laugh. "You're insatiable."

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow and lowered her voice to a purr. "Can you handle me?"


	8. Caught

Part 8: Caught!

**Message from Charles Lindberg:**

**10 min.**

**Oceanside supply closet**

Violet looked down at the screen of her of her cell. Charlotte was texting her, under the alias of Charles, for a little rendezvous. This had been going on for the past week and a half. Sometimes they met in her practice; sometimes in Charlotte's and recently Charlotte had been spending the nights at Violet's. The blonde always left before she woke up, leaving a flowery scent on the pillow next to her.

She texted a, yes, back and made her way to the supply closet near Dell's desk. The surfer boy wasn't there yet, it was after all pretty early and nobody except her was in the practice. She had taken to coming early because Dr. King always arrived to open her practice at a ridiculous time. But the petite doctor was a hard worker and she respected that.

Also the early morning meetings ensured that they could start their days with an uninterrupted morning make out session.

"Morning Charlotte," she sing-songed as she entered the supply room.

"Shut up and kiss me," was all she got as a greeting. The blonde was wearing a violet colored dress. It had buttons running down to her navel, where they met a dark brown leather belt cinched at her waist. And then of course there were the matching heels.

"You look hot," she blurted out. The blonde thanked her with a steamy kiss. Violet moved her hands to undo the buttons on Charlotte's dress, moving her mouth as each button came undone. She had licked and kissed her way down to the blonde's navel when she felt the Charlotte pushing her head down. _She really is insatiable._

She complied with Charlotte's demands and hiked up the skirt of the dress over her head and kissed a wet path up the blonde's toned thigh. She was not surprised to learn that the blonde was not wearing any panties. She nipped at sensitive skin and teased her tongue over Charlotte's entrance.

"Violet," Charlotte moaned. And then the unthinkable happened.

The door open quickly and without warning and Addison stepped in. At first Addison only saw Charlotte, with her head thrown back and her lip twisted in pleasure, and was confused by her presence at Oceanside Wellness. Then she saw Violet on her knees with her head under Charlotte's dress. Addison put two and two together.

"Oh, my God!" Addison stood in the doorway. Each woman looked at each other with a look of horror frozen on their faces. Quickly, Addison backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Violet jumped up. "Don't worry I'll take care of this."

Charlotte nodded silently, looking noticeably paler.

Then she left Charlotte in the supply room and ran after Addison, who was freaking out in the kitchen area.

"Addison."

"Violet."

"What you saw in there…"

"You're sleeping with Charlotte?" Addison asked incredulously. "I mean I don't have anything against Charlotte…you're sleeping with Charlotte?"

"I am," she said in her calm therapist voice.

She watched Addison pace around the kitchen. "I thought something was going on between you two, but this was not what I was thinking. So you're sleeping with Charlotte?"

"Yes, Addison, I'm having sex with Charlotte, hot, wild lesbian sex!"

"Are you a…"

"Lesbian? No. I-I just like Charlotte," she answered shyly. "I really do like her, so I would appreciate it if you kept what you saw to yourself. Don't tell anyone, especially Cooper."

"I promise, not a word to anyone."

"Thank you." Only these words weren't spoken by Violet. Charlotte had come out of the supply room to catch the end of their conversation. Charlotte stood beside her. "I should go."

"Yeah," Violet agreed.

Charlotte and Violet looked at each other, but Charlotte was the brave one. The petite blonde leaned up to place a kiss on her lips. For a moment they forgot where they were and the kiss deepened, but only for a moment.

"Bye, baby gurl," Charlotte whispered in her ear. She watched Charlotte walk away and waved goodbye as the elevator doors closed.

Addison cleared her throat bringing Violet back to earth. She blushed at the look Addison was giving her.

"You're falling for her, aren't you?" Addison asked with a smile.

"What?! No, no I just…we're…Maybe." She blushed.

"So that was some kiss," Addison commented as she began to make coffee.


	9. Elevator

**Part 9: Elevator**

It was morning and Violet was in the elevator with that particular blonde doctor again.

"You like coffee?" Charlotte said behind her.

"I'm human, of course I like coffee." Violet heard a snort of laughter from behind. She was secretly pleased for being able to amuse Charlotte King.

"You wanna get coffee later? Noon maybe?"

"Dr. King, are you asking me out?"

"Oh, hush up Turner."

"That's Dr. Turner. And yes, coffee would be nice." She beamed. She couldn't believe that Charlotte, the queen of intimacy issues, was asking her out. Texting for sex was one thing, but an actual date was another.

0oo0oo0

"So," Addison said settling herself on Violet's couch. "The first fight you had when Charlotte yelled at you…?"

Violet smiled and set down her files. Addison wanted the scoop about her and Charlotte. "I kissed her. Out of the blue I kissed her. I think I shocked the hell out of her, but she must have liked it on some level because she kissed me back."

Addison nodded and continued. "Alright. How about that time when I had to get rid of her for you?"

"She came to talk about the kiss and I was kind of checking her out, maybe looking down her shirt, and she caught me and then I ran."

Addison laughed. "Okay, okay. So what about that time when Naomi found you and Charlotte in the supply closet? Wait, don't answer that."

"We just kissed and that's all. Well, actually I tried to kiss her and she stomped on my foot, but eventually she me kissed back."

"Sounds like something Charlotte would do," Addison commented. "I got one more for you. The next day Charlotte came back and we thought you guys were just arguing. We heard Charlotte shout your name…oh. So you guys were…"

"Uh, yeah." Violet smiled shyly. "She asked me out on a coffee date this morning."

"You'll have to tell me all about it." Addison stood to leave. She had a patient coming in soon and as much as she wanted to stay and chat she did have to work.

"I will. I'm really glad I can tell someone about this. Usually I would talk to Cooper, but that's out of the question."

Addison paused by the door before leaving. "You should talk to him about it sometime, maybe not soon, but one day."

"I'm afraid that if I tell him he'd never speak to meagain."

"He's your best friend Vi. He would get over himself for you."

Violet smiled softly. "Thanks."

0oo0oo0

"Mmm," Violet groaned after taking a sip out of her cerulean colored mug.

"Good?" Charlotte looked at her expectantly waiting for her approval.

"Good. This is some really great stuff. How'd you find this place?" She gestured to the chic café decorated in a teal and sea foam green color scheme.

"Just stumbled upon it one day."

She watched Charlotte gazing out the window looking relaxed and at peace with herself. She had never seen her like this. She really did look beautiful. But she still wondered why Charlotte had chosen to pursue her.

"Why," she asked out loud.

Charlotte turned to her and cocked an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why did you ask me out on a date. The sex I understand. That was just a di-."

Charlotte cut her off. "Stop being a shrink. I asked you out 'cause I like the idea of us together. I like you, okay? And now that Addison knows I thought it would be a good time to start dating."

"You don't do dates Charlotte." _Or relationships for that matter._ But nevertheless Violet was thrilled that Charlotte wanted to actually have a relationship with her.

Charlotte took a breath. "I want…" She shook her head and started again. "I learned some things, being with Cooper. When I push people away I don't get I want, nobody gets what they want. And I end up alone…again. I'm trying to change. You understand that?"

"I do," Violet said.

"It's easier with you. You already know that I'm messed up. You know about all my problems, so no surprises."

A completely gentle Charlotte was almost too hard to comprehend and she wouldn't have believed it if she wasn't experiencing it or herself. Charlotte was changing, growing as a person. She, herself, didn't know exactly what she wanted with this relationship, but if she could she was going to help Charlotte get over intimacy issues then that would be just okay. They would work on all her other problems along the way.

"You don't think it's weird that we're both women?" Violet had to ask.

Charlotte shrugged. 'It's different and maybe a little weird, but I don't really care about that. I don't think you do either."

"No," she realized. "I don't think it's weird. I guess I was so focused on getting you to like me that I forgot you were a woman. I mean not that you're mannish or anything. You're very womanly, really feminine. I've seen you naked, definitely a woman," she rambled.

Charlotte laughed and held up a hand to silence her. "Violet, I get it."

Something started to beep and Charlotte pulled out a pager from her purse. "Gotta go." She stood and looked at Violet's disappointed face, which prompted her to say, "I'm going to take you out to dinner this Friday." And then she left.

"Bye Charlotte."


	10. Stripes or Polka Dots?

**Part 10: Stripes or Polka Dots?**

It was the day after the coffee date and Violet hadn't seen or heard from Charlotte since. She was afraid that Charlotte had chickened out on the relationship thing and was ignoring her, but when she came home that night Charlotte was already waiting for her, on her bed, dressed in a French maid's outfit no less.

She had thought the outfits were a little weird at first, but she got over it, fast. She reasoned that role-playing was a good thing, healthy even. People needed to be someone else, get lost in someone else's life. Isn't that why people read books? To escape the harsh reality of life?

"You're late Turner," Charlotte said stiffly.

It was hard to take the Charlotte seriously in that getup, but it was true, she had come home later than usual. It wasn't her fault though. She had spent the last three hours talking her patient out of her hurting himself. Needless to say she was not in the mood for what Charlotte had planned for them tonight.

Charlotte walked up to her and started to undo the buttons on her blouse. She pushed the blonde away.

"What?"

"I don't-. Not tonight." Violet sighed. "Sorry." The blonde frowned.

"What's wrong with you?" Charlotte demanded.

Violet shrugged. "Work."

"Fine," Charlotte snapped. "I'll leave.

"No. Charlotte," she called. Charlotte ignored her and put on her navy blue trench coat, picked up her purse and left the room. Violet followed after, despite her better judgment.

"Charlotte don't go," Violet said from the top of the stairs, looking down at the blonde.

Charlotte paused at the front door, but didn't turn to look at her. The blonde was expecting some sort of explanation, but she was tired and kept coming up with blanks.

"You gonna to say anything?"

"What's your favorite color?" She blurted out. It was all she could come up with.

"Excuse me?" Charlotte turned around and gave her a look.

"What's your favorite color?" She asked again.

"Indigo." Charlotte eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

"No reason." She walked down her dark wooden stairs and took Charlotte's coat and purse from her. The blonde watched Violet put them set them down on a chair in the entryway of her home. "Okay, there is a reason, but just because I'm not in the mood tonight does not mean that you have to leave. We can just talk or watch a movie. You wanted a relationship with me. You don't just runaway when everything isn't perfect for you. And who said I wanted you to leave? Maybe I want you to stay. Maybe I want to wake up in the morning and see you next to me for once." She huffed and crossed her arms.

Silence.

"So, what's your favorite color?" Charlotte asked.

"Burgundy."

Charlotte nodded and followed her back upstairs to her bedroom.

"You don't have any other clothes do you," she asked. "Unless, you know, you want to clean my house."

Charlotte punched her lightly on the arm. "Ha, ha. Real funny Turner."

"You can borrow some of mine," Violet said walking into her spacious closet. Charlotte followed her in, having never seen Violet's extensive collection of clothes. She nodded appreciatively, at the selection while Violet rummaged through the sets of drawers under the racks of hanging clothes and picked out a comfy old tee and a pair of pajama pants.

"Here put these on." Charlotte stripped into front of her eyes, making her regret her no sex decision. She was glad the stubborn little blonde had decided to stay. So she hugged Charlotte in one spontaneous movement.

Charlotte struggled in her surprise, but eventually gave in. "What is wrong with you tonight?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," she said as they stepped out of the closet. "There's something wrong with everyone else and it takes time and patience to heal them. And then I start to care and it makes it very hard for me when they take steps backwards instead of forwards."

"I get that," Charlotte said. "Had this patient, he was an alcoholic and he trashed his liver. He had a transplant after waiting for some time and got this new healthy liver. He came back later with alcohol poisoning. The man was damaging that liver that took so long to get. I just thought…well I had hoped he would stop hitting the bottle."

"I like you," Violet said, after listening to what the blonde had to say.

"I know. You keep saying that," Charlotte said dryly.

"You didn't let me finish. I was going to add that, you get me, perfectly."

"Oh."

"Favorite flower?" Violet shot at her before Charlotte could dwell on those words for long.

"Sunflowers. You?"

"Roses, red roses. I know, not very original." She flopped down on her bed and looked expectantly at Charlotte. The blonde lay down next her, leaving a foot between them, which prompted Violet to scoot closer to her.

Charlotte didn't snuggle with her, not even after sex. Charlotte might lie close to her or on top of her, but they didn't snuggle, which was a shame cause she liked to. But now it didn't matter because she was going to have her way whether Charlotte liked it or not.

So Violet scooted closer and then curled up along the form of the smaller woman, resting her chin on soft blonde hair. They stayed like that for a few minutes before anything happened. Violet spoke first.

"Stripes or polka dots?"

0oo0oo0

When Violet woke up that morning she noticed the sleeping form of Charlotte next to her. She smiled. They were making progress. This was a real relationship.


	11. Stand Alone

**Sorry this chapter is a short one. I'll post again sooner than I usually do.**

**

* * *

Part 11: Stand Alone**

Violet had put on a nice dress, with sexy stilettos. She had painstakingly applied her makeup and made sure her hair curled just right with no frizz. In short, it had taken her two and a half hours to get ready for her dinner date with Charlotte. It was Friday, the day Charlotte had told her they were going out.

But it was nine and Charlotte was supposed to pick her up at seven. She knew she was being stood up, but she didn't want to believe it.

"Charlotte, where are you?"


	12. A Dozen Roses

**Part 12: A Dozen Roses**

Violet stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of Oceanside only to see all the men of the practice gathered around Dell's desk. She chose not to make her presence known and stood behind them silently. She finally spotted the vase of a dozen red roses sitting on the desk. It seemed to be the topic of their discussion.

"Who do you think they're from," Dell asked.

"Well, look at the card," Pete suggested.

She watched Sam pick up the card. "It says, 'I'm sorry,' and it's signed by C. Hey, Coop, do you know something about this?"

"Violet's seeing some guy named Charles. They're probably from him." So the flowers were for her.

"Yes," Violet spoke up. "They probably are from him." They turned with identical looks of surprise written on their faces.

"Oh, hello Violet. I think these are for you," Dell said sheepishly.

She gave the guys a smile and took her flowers back to her office. Cooper followed.

"So you and you're short blonde person are getting serious, huh?"

"Short blonde guy," she corrected. "I can't believe you're still fantasizing about me and Charlotte. And yes, we are getting serious." _At least I'd like to think._

She set the flowers on her desk, took a moment to appreciate them, and then flopped down on the couch next to Cooper.

"So it's the end of the world and you and Charlotte are the last people on it," he began.

"We are not playing this game again and why are you assuming that the last thing I would want to do is have sex?"

"It's the last thing I'd want to do."

She rolled her eyes at this. "God, Cooper."

Suddenly a shout of anger rang through the air. "What is taking you so long surfer boy?!"

Cooper and Violet looked at each other and uttered, "Charlotte," simultaneously.

"It's the end of the world Violet. She's yours for the taking," Cooper joked.

"Shut up."

He laughed and they got up and went to see what was going on.

"Charlotte, why are you shouting?" Cooper asked as they came to the receptionist desk. Dell stood behind looking flustered.

"Surfer boy can't find the file I need for my patient," Charlotte spat out, not even bothering to look at them.

"First of all he's a midwife," Violet cut in. "And second of all, I have the file. He's my patient."

Charlotte gave her a triumphant smile. "Not any more," she drawled.

She frowned. "Fine, come with me and I'll give it to you."

Charlotte nodded and followed behind with Cooper trailing after. He was grinning like a fool and Violet couldn't even begin to imagine what he was fantasizing about them.

Violet dug through her file cabinet while Charlotte stood by and Cooper looked on from the doorway.

"What's wrong with him?" Charlotte asked, pointing to the grinning fool at the door.

She was completely aware that Cooper could hear them. "He thinks I want to sleep with you," she said nonchalantly.

"What?" Charlotte asked incredulously.

"In a hypothetical situation," Cooper added.

"Would you?" Charlotte asked.

"Would I what?" She asked.

"Would you sleep with me in a hypothetical situation?"

Cooper's jaw dropped. He could not believe Charlotte, of all people, was asking Violet, a woman she hated, this question.

Violet blushed. "I d-don't know. D-depends on the situation, I guess," she stumbled. She was getting flustered. What was Charlotte doing? Did she want them to get caught?

Charlotte took the file from her and headed towards the door, but not before saying, "I'd do you, in a hypothetical situation. Nice flowers by the way."

Violet turned red and Cooper just stared at the petite doctor as she walked away.

"Oh, my God!" Cooper said.

"Yeah."

"That was hot!"

"Shut up."

Cooper rushed out, presumably to gossip to the others. She wanted to go yell at Charlotte, but it might seem suspicious if she just left. Instead she went in search of Addison. The redhead wasn't in her office, so she headed towards the maternity suite. She pushed the door open and the couple inside broke apart.

"Pete? Addison?" Honestly she wasn't really surprised. Addison and Pete have had a thing for each other since Addison first came to the practice.

Pete scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ah, Violet, hi. We were just… working."

"With your lips," Violet added.

"Lips? Well they were involved," Pete mumbled. "But it's not what you think."

Addison jumped into the fray. "Violet, do you mind…"

Violet mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. "No problem. Not a word to anyone. Just returning the favor."

"Thanks," Pete said gratefully.

"Well, I'll guess I'll go," Violet said. "Carry on."

She went to find Naomi, hoping that Cooper hadn't got to her and told her about the thing with Charlotte.

"So those were some nice roses you got there," Naomi said.

"Yeah." She smiled. "They're beautiful aren't they?"

"So when do we get to meet this infamous Charles Lindberg? I mean you guys have been going out for what a month now?"

"About a month, yeah."

"Well, I want to meet this guy, Vi. Got to make sure he's good enough for you."

"Oh he is."

Would she have to tell them about Charlotte? It seemed like Charlotte wouldn't mind if people knew (guess she really was over Cooper). It's not that she didn't want people to know, it's that it would just be odd. She would be what? Coming out of the closet or something. And then there was Cooper. Telling people about them would not be a good idea.

Later that day, when it was possible to sneak away, she met up with Charlotte in Pacific Wellness. Charlotte was sitting at her desk scanning the files before her.

"What we're you thinking?" She asked Charlotte.

"I was just playing," Charlotte replied.

"Just playing? Do you want everyone to know," she chided.

Charlotte looked up from her papers. "Yes."

"What?"

"I want people to know."

"But… I don't know if-."

Charlotte put a hand up. "You don't have to tell anyone now, but eventually they will figure it out on their own. I don't want that to happen. There would be a scandal. I'd rather tell them myself."

Violet crossed her arms angrily. "I'm still mad at you about last night. I can't believe you. You say you're serious. You want to tell people about us and… we were making progress. I don't understand you. You stood me up," she yelled. "You stood me up!"

"I know. I'm sorry Violet."

"Sorry? You're sorry? I waited for you."

Charlotte stood suddenly and backed away from her desk.

"Hey," Violet spat. "I'm talking to you." The blonde whispered something that she couldn't hear and she asked her to speak up.

"I was scared. I-I don't know how to do this." She could see Charlotte's small form shaking now. "I'm not good at relationships. We're getting real close and I got scared and so I just didn't come. I'm sorry." Charlotte just looked so pitiful.

Violet sighed. "It's okay Charlotte."

"No it's not," Charlotte whispered.

She stood and wrapped her arms around the broken woman and pressed a kiss into that soft yellow hair. "It's okay Charlotte. It's okay." She kept repeating that phrase until the blonde believed her.

"I'm so messed up," Charlotte whispered.

"Who isn't?"

When Charlotte was ready she backed away from Violet. She seemed better.

"I loved my roses, by the way."


	13. Sunrise

**Part 13: Sunrise**

Violet was sitting on a bench near the ocean watching the sun rise. Half happy, half depressed. She was thinking about the past. The bad part, the part where she was sexually assaulted…raped. She never told anyone, except Cooper.

She didn't want to be alone so she left a text message for Charlotte. She wasn't really expecting her to come. But regardless, Charlotte came and slipped down into the spot beside her on the bench and stared into the horizon. The sky was an explosion of pinks and oranges.

After a few moments of silence Violet began to talk. "There was a time when I didn't think I would live to see another one on these." She gestured to the sky. "There was a time when I didn't want to live to see another one of these."

Charlotte said nothing, her face betrayed no emotion. She was stoic, which was exactly what Violet needed.

"I'm messed up too." She reached over without looking and held onto Charlotte's hand. The blonde gave her hand a squeeze. "I just thought you should know."

Together they watched the sunrise, no one else within miles.


	14. Bad Day

**Part 14: Bad Day**

Violet Turner was having a bad day, which was sad because she was having a really good week with Charlotte. After lasts week's dinner fiasco Charlotte had decided to try taking her to dinner again. Tomorrow, Thursday, they would have their first official dinner date.

Despite all this good news she was still having a bad day. First she overslept and almost missed her first appointment of the day. Then her shoe broke. The heel just snapped right off. And to top that off, in the process of breaking her shoe, she fell and spilled the coffee she was holding all over herself. And when she went to her car to pick up the spare change of clothes she always kept in there, she found out that she had locked her keys in the car during her morning panic.

So now she was standing outside of her car with her broken shoes in her hands and a giant coffee stain on her white blouse. This day could not get any worse.

She banged her head on her car before looking up to the sky and yelling, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Behind her she heard laughter. She turned to face the intruder and sighed. Of course it had to be Charlotte.

Charlotte in return looked over her ruined outfit and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in question. "Do I even want to know?"

"I'm just having a really, really bad day." She groaned and banged her head on the car. "And I locked my keys in my car." She banged her head again.

"Stop that," Charlotte chided. "You're going to give yourself a concussion." She turned back to see the petite doctor giving her an amused look. "Do you have a spare key?"

"At home," she said miserably.

"Come on. I'll give you a ride."

The car ride Violet was so quiet that Charlotte almost missed the therapist's excited chatter.

"You okay?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Charlotte said in case she had done something to add to Violet's unhappiness.

"Charlotte you didn't do anything." She smiled at the blonde. "You always do that. You don't have too always assumed that you're in the wrong because you're usually not. You just have low self-esteem."

"I do not have low self-esteem," Charlotte said, outraged.

"I think I would know Charlotte. I did not spend all that time at Stanford learning about nothing."

"_You _went to Stanford?" Charlotte looked at Violet in wonder before turning back to the road.

"Well, yeah. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were. I just didn't know you went to _Stanford_ to become a shrink."

Violet stayed silent.

"What?" Charlotte asked, taking her eyes off the road again.

Violet frowned. "I know you don't care for my profession, but it would be nice if you at least gave me a modicum of respect."

"I'm sorry." Charlotte paused and then added, "You have my respect Dr. Turner."

Violet smiled and leaned over to give the blonde a kiss. "Thank you."

Within the next ten minutes they were at Violet's house. Violet was upstairs digging around for her spare key and changing into a clean and not broken outfit.

0oo0oo0

Charlotte on the other hand was nosing around the house. She walked from room to room examining the pictures and little knickknacks placed in their strategic places. Of course she had already been through every inch of the house, while the therapist was away. She had found the key under the flowerpot and let herself in that first night with Violet.

Charlotte opened the door to Violet's home office and made her way to the left side of the room. On the blue painted wall hung a painting. She didn't like the painting nor did she understand it. It was a tree, not a normal one mind you. The leaves were a splotchy blue green. The trunk was the wrong shade of brown and the hole in the trunk was too big to be a home for a little critter. What could have possibly driven the therapist to buy this piece of junk?

"Absolute crap," Charlotte spat.

"Hey!" Violet said defensively.

Charlotte whipped around to glare at the therapist. "Well it is." She turned back to examine the painting. "What is it? It's got to be symbolic or something. Nobody creates crap like that without a reason."

"It's just a tree drawing, an art therapy activity. It's a non-verbal approach to treating trauma. With art it's possible to communicate anything that is too painful to put into words," Violet replied. "Art therapy isn't my specialty, but when I work with my younger patients I make them draw these during their first visits."

Charlotte gave a nod of understanding. "So, ah, what's with the hole?"

"That lookout hole there," Violet pointed, "Is a trauma hole. When patients draw these it means that they have been raped or sexually abused in someway. The closer to the ground it is, the more recent the attack was. The bigger the hole is, the more invasive the attack was."

Charlotte's eyes softened and she placed a hand on the trunk of the tree. "The hole is high up, far from the ground," she noted. "Which one of your patients drew this?" She asked only because it was possible that she may have stolen this patient from Oceanside. She turned away from the picture when she noticed the therapist wasn't answering.

The tears in Violet's eyes surprised her. "What's wrong?"

The therapist rushed to the door, but turned at the last minute and said, "It's, um, not a patient's. It's mine."


	15. Role Reversal

**Part 15: Role Reversal**

Violet was fussing with the paperwork on her desk, pretending to work, while ignoring the stares of Charlotte. She had left Charlotte in her home office yesterday, went to her bedroom and locked the door. Charlotte came up to talk to her, of course, but she didn't feel like talking.

She had gone through these feelings before. She had been raped, but she had worked so hard to recover from that. And she had. She had her life back now. But that didn't mean that it didn't still haunt her. All she needed was a day and she would be able to function again.

She had waited till Charlotte gave up and left to call in sick and then she slept until it was time for work the next day. Charlotte couldn't have stayed even if she wanted too. Violet knew that Dr. King was still Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose, the Director of Pacific Wellness Center and a very busy person all together. But no one could say that Charlotte didn't try. The blonde had called her multiple times and had shown up at her office during her lunch break.

So she was here, unsuccessfully avoiding Charlotte.

"Turner!" The blonde said sharply.

She fought the urge to look up, but eventually made eye contact with Charlotte, briefly, before going back to pretending to do paper work.

"Don't ignore me," Charlotte said in an almost outraged tone.

"I'm working Charlotte."

For a few minutes the sound of a pen scratching on paper could be heard. Charlotte was just about fed up now. She wasn't used to being the normal one in the relationship, even if it was for a little while.

"Violet," Charlotte said gently.

Violet looked up this time and put down her pen.

"Let's sit," Charlotte said gesturing to the couch.

She nodded and took a seat next to Charlotte. She didn't say anything to Charlotte and she wasn't making eye contact. She stayed very still and jumped when she felt the blonde take her hand in her own.

"Look," Charlotte began. "You don't have to talk about it, but you can't shut me out. I'm here and I can help. The least I can do is be your shoulder to cry on. I care about you Violet." The blonde stopped talking, catching Violet's attention, and slapped a hand over her eyes. "God, you're making me get in touch with my emotions. Just look what you're doing to me."

She couldn't help, but laugh at the blonde. Somehow they had switched roles without her noticing. She was proud of Charlotte though, for being able to express her feelings. She knew that when Charlotte was with Cooper, she kept everything bottled up. Charlotte had pushed Cooper away, but was reaching out to her.

Charlotte glared at her when she couldn't contain her laughter.

"Stop laughing at me! I'm trying to tell you how I feel and… Stop it!"

"I'm sorry." She shrugged sheepishly. "It just feels good to laugh. But I appreciate everything you're doing and everything you did. Thank you."

"Well, good."

"I'm going to be okay. I've gotten through those problems already, but a little alone time helps."

"Would've been nice to know that," Charlotte said crossly. "And you do remember that we have our date tonight, right?"

"Yes, I do remember. And you'll show up this time, right?" Violet cringed at her snippy remark, fearing that she had hit a sensitive nerve.

"I'll be there. You can count on that."

0oo0oo0

Standing just outside of Violet's office was Cooper. Sure Charlotte had remembered to close the door, but she hadn't remembered to shut the blinds and as a result anyone could walk by and see the two of them sitting on the couch and talking. The anyone just so happened to be Violet's best friend and Charlotte's ex.

He was very confused by the situation at hand. Why would two sworn enemies be talking to each other?

"What are they doing?"

"What are who doing?" Sam asked behind him.  
"Just look."

Sam peered into the office. "It's that…?"

"Yup."

A look a pure confusion was etched across Sam's face. "Why?"

"I have no idea."

"Uh, guys," Pete said as he approached. "What are you…. Is that-."

"Yep," Cooper and Sam both replied.

"Are they friends?"

"They can't be friends," Cooper said. "It's just not possible. Do you know how hard I tried to get them to be nice to each other when I was with Charlotte?"

"No," Pete said candidly.

"Hard. I tried really hard and they still hated each other. I mean Violet was the one who told me about Charlotte's secret practice downstairs and Charlotte can hold one hell of a grudge. She should be abusing Violet in some way, not chatting amicably with her. Are they laughing? They're laughing ! Why are they laughing?!" Cooper was near hysteria.

"Dude, calm down. It's probably work related," Pete said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It's probably about some case."

As the guys chatted Addison listened from a distance. She rolled her eyes and walked up to the group after Cooper's hysteria.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked.

"Nothing," Sam replied immediately.

"Yeah, Addison we were just talking about a case," Pete told her.

Addison raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "A case, huh?"

Cooper piped in. "Yeah, a case. And, uh, and we should go." The other two made similar agreements and followed after Cooper when he left.

Addison shook her head and walked into Violet's office.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she told the two on the couch.

"Montgomery," Charlotte drawled. "We are trying to have a serious conversation over here."

"That explains the laughing then." Addison smiled. "Are you two holding hands? That is so cute."

"Is there a reason for you being here?" Charlotte demanded.

"Charlotte," Violet chided. "Be nice."

Charlotte grumbled a little, but otherwise refrained from being mean or insulting.

"Guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship," Addison quipped.

Charlotte gave her one of her famous Charlotte glares.

"Addison," Violet said. "Stop baiting her."

"I'm not-." Addison stopped and went on to say what she was originally tying to say. "I'm thrilled that you two love birds are happy, but if you want to keep your relationship a secret you're going to have to be better at hiding it. Just a few minutes ago Cooper, Sam and Pete were staring at you two like they were at the zoo and you were the animals on display. You're lucky they can't figure out what you're doing together. So far they think you're talking about work related subjects."

"Cooper," Violet said guiltily. It was hard hiding something this big from him. Granted he had hid Charlotte from her too, but Cooper deserved some sort of an explanation or at the very least a decent lie. So she got up and left the room, hoping that Charlotte would understand. But that left Addison alone with Charlotte.

"So, you're being nice to Violet, right?" Addison asked.

"Of course," Charlotte snapped

"And this, what you guys have, is real?"

"Of course." Just what was Addison getting at?

"And you love her?"

"Of course." Charlotte froze and her eyes widened upon realization of what she had just verbalized. "Montgomery," she warned when the redhead opened her mouth again. "I do love her, but this is our little secret. If you even so much as utter a word of this to Violet, I will tell everyone about you and Pete."

"Like I would be that mean and ruin your chance to tell her." She stopped. "Hey! How do you know about me and Pete?"

Charlotte gave her a look of superiority. "Violet tells me everything."

"Ah," Addison said as she took a seat next to Charlotte. "You're not going to tell anyone right?"

"Relax, I won't say a word." Charlotte shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "So, you guys are trying for a relationship again?"

"Yeah. It's going pretty good too," Addison said shyly. "Can I tell Pete about you and Violet. I mean you know about Pete and me. It's only fair."

"Fine. Go ahead and tell him." Secretly Charlotte was pleased. More people finding out was a good thing. She knew the Oceanside people, with the exception of Addison, basically hated her, but if she could gain their approval slowly, one by one, then maybe they could learn to like her. The two practices could be at peace even.

"Hey, we could double date or something."

"Don't push your luck."


	16. Freedman Rocks

**Part 16: Freedman Rocks**

Violet left Charlotte with Addison in hopes of talking to her best friend. Cooper was in his office talking to Pete and Sam. They were having an animated conversation, but as soon as they noticed her they shut up.

She raised her hand in greeting. "Hi guys."

They each said hi and then Pete and Sam got the hint and left.

Cooper was sitting at his desk playing around on the computer now.

"So, Vi, I saw you and Charlotte King talking."

"Yes, you did."

"Why are you talking with her? You hate her."

"I don't hate her."

"Really? Because I seem to remember you calling her names like Cruella and the Source of All Evil."

"Well I don't hate her. We're friends Cooper. Okay? Friends."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Violet slipped into a chair across from Cooper's desk. "We talked and it turns out that we enjoy doing the some of the same things." _Like kissing…_"She's not so bad once you get to know her."

Cooper frowned. "Does this mean I'm going to have to see Charlotte a lot more?"

"I guess so."

"This is kind of strange." A pause. "So how are you and Charles," Cooper asked not wanting to talk about his ex anymore.

Violet beamed. "We're doing great."

"I know that look."

"What look?"

"The I'm-hopelessly-in-love look. You're in love with him aren't you?"

She wondered how he picked up on these things. He had this weird talent for reading people. "Yeah. I'm in love."

"Violet! That's so great. I'm happy for you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I kind of just figured that out Coop."

"So you haven't told him?"

"No, but I'm going too."

"Vi, when do I get to meet him?" He gave her puppy eyes and she just couldn't say no.

"Soon, very soon."

Cooper stood and walked to a shelf that held his daily calendar. He flipped through a few days before turning back to Violet.

"How about lunch next Wednesday. I'm free and you probably are too. So what do you think?"

Violet didn't know what to do. She had been backed up into a corner. She couldn't say no. If she did, Cooper would be suspicious and probably offended. If she said yes…well you see the dilemma.

She smiled. "Wednesday sounds great."

0oo0oo0

Later that day Cooper was at St. Ambrose with his four year old patient, Liza Smith, and he needed Charlotte to sign off on a drug trail he wanted to get the little girl into.

Charlotte was somewhere in the hospital. She wasn't in her office there and she wasn't on the Peds. Floor either. He searched a few other floors and the NICU before finding her in the newborn extension.

Among the rows of plastic cribs, Charlotte was in too big scrubs, holding a baby. Charlotte looked so sweet just then, but when she spotted him, she gave him a scowl.

Cooper rolled his eyes. Typical Charlotte. "Dr. King."

"Yes, " Charlotte said quietly for the sake of the newborns.

Cooper held out the thick pad of papers in his hand. "I need you to sign off on this trial."

He watched his ex put down the baby and take the contract from him. She gave it a once over before taking the pen from him and signing it.

"Thanks," he said.

He started to move away, but thought better of it. Charlotte returned to showering the baby she had been holding with affection. Cooper stayed instead and examined Charlotte unnoticed. He didn't remember Charlotte ever being this gentle. He watched the blonde smile and spout cute gibberish at the baby. He didn't remember her being this happy either, even when she was with him.

"Charlotte." The slight twinge in her shoulders was the only indicator that she had been surprised. "Are you…seeing someone?"

"It's been two and a half months Cooper. It was bound to happen," she said frostily.

"I know Charlotte. You just, well, you look happy. You must be doing well."

"I am." She said carefully. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"No, not really." He paused and looked down at the baby next to him. "I'm not really ready to get back out there."

"I'm sorry," Charlotte said gently.

He gave her a funny look. "It's not your fault."

"I know." She sighed. "But it's my fault that we broke up. I hurt you Cooper. I'm sorry for that. I never wanted-."

Cooper cut her off. "I know." There was a comfortable silence. "It wasn't going to work out. There was too much fighting, too much push and shove. You ran away all the time, and shut me out and I pushed you too hard and tried to change you into something that I wanted. We made each other miserable half the time. And that good half was great, but we both know in the long run, it wasn't going to last. I'm sorry too. I didn't give you a second chance. You probably deserved one, but I was so angry. I'm sorry Charlotte."

He waited nervously for her to respond. She hadn't made eye contact with him yet and chose to focus her attention on the baby. A few seconds later a soft smile appeared on her lips.

"Cooper, one day you're going to make some woman very happy."

He gave her one of his goofy smile. "Thanks."

Charlotte grinned at him.

Cooper's smile widened to match hers. He couldn't believe he was talking to the same women he dated two and a half months ago. "Whoever you're dating must be something special if he's making you this happy. You've changed Charlotte. I can hardly recognize you anymore."

"Yeah, well it's a good change."

"It is," he agreed.


	17. A Night to Remember

**Part 17: A Night to Remember**

Violet was finally going on her date with Charlotte. The blonde had picked her up promptly at seven and taken her to this impossibly fancy restaurant with a name she couldn't even pronounce.

Charlotte looked beautiful in her olive green cocktail dress and strappy silver stilettos. The blonde had also done her hair up in some complicated bun with curls. She on the other hand was no less stunning, as Charlotte had informed her. Her burgundy knee length cocktail dress was sexy and super expensive, but it was all worth it when she saw the look on Charlotte's when she opened the door.

The table that Charlotte had reserved for them was secluded, by a window, and had a beautiful view of the Pacific.

"Charlotte, this is great," she said as the blonde looked over the wine menu.

"Of course it is," Charlotte said not taking her eyes off the menu. The blonde's cocky answer was greeted with silence and with that she added, "Thank you."

While Violet loved how much effort the blonde was putting into making the date perfect and finding the perfect wine, she really wanted Charlotte to talk to her.

"The house wine will be fine," she told the blonde.

"But-." Charlotte protested.

She gave Charlotte a look and the blonde was silenced. After all Charlotte owed her for standing her up last time.

Charlotte put the menu down and made an effort to smile at her. "The house wine is good then."

When the waiter came around, they ordered the wine and soup and salad. The service was quick and the wine came seconds after they ordered. Unfortunately fast service wasn't exactly a good thing. The wine was poured too fast, creating specks of red on the white tablecloth and when the waiter turned to serve Violet, he knocked her glass over onto her lap, along with the three small candles that fell to their sides on the table.

Charlotte and the waiter both jumped up to help clean off her dress, so it was a while before they noticed that the table was burning. The waiter panicked and picked up Charlotte's glass of wine.

"Wait," Charlotte yelled.

It was too late and the waiter splashed wine onto the small fire. There was a whoosh as the fire grew exponentially.

"You idiot!" Charlotte said harshly. "Alcohol is an accelerant."

Everyone in the restaurant was staring at them. The fire was burning and a small troop of waiters was now trying to put out the fire. Charlotte was still lecturing the poor waiter who had caused this fiasco and the manager had popped out and was profusely apologizing to her and promising to pay for the dry cleaning. Well Violet had had enough.

She stood and made her way to the bathroom. Once there she burst out laughing. This evening was far from perfect, but with the week she had been having this was a relief. She had always believed that laughter was the best medicine. And so she laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

The door opened suddenly and Charlotte came in to see Violet clutching her side and leaning over the sink.

"Oh, Violet, are you crying?" The blonde placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wanted everything to be perfect for you. I blew it didn't I?"

She just couldn't stop laughing and she guessed it must have looked like she was crying.

"Violet, I said I was sorry. Please don't cry."

If there is one thing you should know about Charlotte, it's that she absolutely hates crying. Whether it's herself or others. She'd prefer bleeding or puking to crying. She has two very good reasons for hating tears too: One, because she usually is the one who makes people cry and two because she can never make the crying stop.

"Charlotte," she said between gasping for breath. "I'm not crying."

The blonde's brow scrunched in confusion. "You're not?"

"No," she snickered. "I'm laughing. The table is on fire!" She let out a full belly laugh."

"But your dress is ruined."

"It's okay. Its just clothes." She finally caught her breath and turned around to face her date. She almost laughed again when she saw the undeniable look of confusion frozen upon the blonde's face. Guess her Charlotte needed more convincing. So she stepped up to her date and wrapped her arms around Charlotte's slender frame and administered a series of hot, steamy kisses.

"We good?" She asked when she was done.

"We're good," Charlotte said breathlessly.

They left the restaurant immediately and piled into Charlotte's black hybrid. Violet was starving still and suggested they go get some fast-food.

" McDonald's?" Charlotte asked. "You want to go to McDonald's?"

"What? I'm hungry and a Big Mac with fries and a shake sounds really good right now." She paused and looked down at her ruined dress. "You know, I think the wine soaked down to my underwear."

Charlotte laughed at her comment.

"Well, it did."

They decided to eat inside the McDonald's and earned a few well-deserved stares. Violet had gobbled up nearly all of her meal, impressing Charlotte greatly.

"You eat a lot," the blonde commented. Charlotte picked up a few of her fries and ate them. "How do you stay so skinny?"

"I chase my patients around." She shrugged. "That and I have a high metabolism. And you're one to talk. You're rail thin and you never eat."

"I work a lot. Sometimes I forget."

"You need to take care of yourself. Luckily for you, you have me to help."

"Aren't you a sweet talker," Charlotte replied dryly. "Now," the blonde said leaning over the table suggestively, "How about dessert?"

Violet looked over at the menu hanging above the order counter. "I think they have apple pies or something here."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "That's not the kind dessert I'm talking about."

She looked back at the blonde leaning over the table, finally noticing the ample amount of cleavage being revealed.

"Oh, that kind of dessert."


	18. Three's A Crowd

**Part 18: Three's a Crowd**

Cooper knocked three times on Violet's door, as was usual when he came over. It was Saturday morning and neither he nor Violet had any patients for that day, so it was decided that they do something together. He almost suggested that they do something with Charles, but in all honesty he was kind of jealous that Violet spent most of her time with the guy these days.

He had come armed with DVDs and Violet's favorite candy. They would probably talk first, he mused, and catch up on things before watching the movies. This he did not mind. He missed talking to her, but he was happy she found some one else to spend her time with.

When door finally opened and he found himself both shocked and confused.

"Charlotte?"

The blonde opened the door farther and took one look at the DVDs in his hand and frowned.

"What are you doing here?" Cooper asked.

"Well, hello to you too Dr. Freedman," she said dryly. Charlotte wasn't pleased that her Ex was here, but she moved aside and let him into the house anyways.

He made a beeline to the living room and put everything on to the coffee table. Charlotte followed close behind, observing his every movement, but he was determined to ignore her. He didn't want her here. He did not want her being all harsh and critical on a day that was supposed to be fun and relaxing.

He left the DVDs where they were and went upstairs to find Violet and of course Charlotte followed him. He found that to be particularly annoying. Once upstairs he called out for Violet and she responded with, "Give me a minute."

He sighed and went down stairs to make popcorn. And though he stayed facing the microwave he could still feel Charlotte's eyes boring into the back of his head and on top of that she was being unnaturally quiet. He found that unsettling. Charlotte always had something to say, it wasn't always something nice, but she always had a comment to make.

He finally faced her and said, "What?"

She shrugged and walked over to the fridge to pull out a can of coke. The act of getting the coke was simple, but significant in Cooper's eyes. He had always had exclusive rights to Violet's fridge. He was the only one that could walk around her house, eat and do whatever he pleased. They were just that good of friends, but Violet couldn't possibly be that good of friends with Charlotte. Could she?

He must have been staring too long because Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him in question.

He shook his head at her.

When the popcorn was all popped Violet made an appearance. She stood awkwardly by the kitchen doorway glancing between her two silent guests. She had almost forgotten that Charlotte was still lurking around the house that morning. Not that she didn't mind, but Charlotte was now coming over not only for sex, but also to spend time with her, which she loved.

They would talk, or not talk, they would play old board games she found in her closet or just watch TV. Recently Charlotte had brought over her violin, which Violet had no idea she even played, and stored it in her house. The blonde had played for her once and moved her to tears. After that Charlotte had decided that it was better not to play if it was only going to make her cry. Violet argued otherwise, but the blonde was stubborn and always got her way.

Another thing that was happening was that Charlotte was slowly claiming pieces of Violet's house. Charlotte had a favorite armchair that she liked to relax in, she had a favorite mug she liked to drink from, she had a spot on the couch she wouldn't let anyone else sit in and the blonde was already taking up space in her closet and in her bathroom as well. It happened slowly, almost methodically and it was hard to notice.

One day she pair of shoes that weren't hers would appear in her closet, another day there might be a few books on her bookshelf that hadn't been there before and the next day she might find a few shirts that didn't belong to her mixed in with her laundry.

The blonde also had a habit of being in the house when she wasn't there or being there without her noticing. She would come home and find the blonde reading on the couch or working in her home office. Sometimes she would come downstairs after showering or something and the blonde would be puttering around in the kitchen and she would have no clue as to when the blonde had come or why she was there.

However, Violet had become accustomed to Charlotte's constant presence and never reacted strangely to Charlotte's sudden appearances. She acted like whatever Charlotte was doing was perfectly normal.

Who needs to be invited into a house anyways? You can always just pocket the spare key and come and go as you please, like Charlotte. Still, she loved Charlotte being there and it was obvious that the blonde was making an effort at being in a committed relationship. Later Violet would analyze the blonde more. Today she would just be content.

"Hi Vi." Cooper said shaking Violet out of her reverie.

"Oh hey," Violet replied. "Ready to watch Rush Hour? It would only be our like fiftieth time watching it."

He grinned. "Well it's only because it's such a great movie."

"Never seen it," Charlotte said flatly.

Cooper looked at her with a mixture of shock and disgust.

"We'll just have to fix that won't we?" Violet said.

Charlotte nodded, and offered a small smile. She was pleased that she had been included.

Cooper looked at Violet and pleaded with his eyes. This was just supposed to be the two of them, not them and Charlotte.

Charlotte smirked at him and took the popcorn from his hands before heading out to the living room. And he really hated that. Giving Charlotte any sort of power was a bad thing.

Once they were alone Violet spoke to him. "You just have to get used to her Coop. She's my friend now too."

"Fine," he said in an exasperated tone. "But I don't have to like her."

He realized he was acting like a petulant two year old, but he really didn't like sharing his best friend. He never had to share her before. He was always her best, best friend and there just wasn't enough room for someone else. But he supposed he could get used to Charlotte and Vi's friendship if the blonde only made occasional visits and didn't monopolize the fridge.

So there they sat on the couch. Cooper on one side, Violet on the other and Charlotte in the middle, because she had already claimed that spot as hers weeks ago.

Cooper found that watching the movie with Charlotte wasn't so bad. The blonde would laugh and sometimes even giggle, which both Violet and Cooper found cute. She would smile unknowingly at the silly antics of the actors and clutch the popcorn bowl tightly when the movie became intense.

She was acting very normal, very human and displaying a wide range of emotions that was impressive for the blonde. Violet gave him a knowing smile over Charlotte's head and he returned it. _Well what do you know, Violet's actually good for her._

After the movie Charlotte stood and stretched, making a cat like mewl of satisfaction as she did so.

"I have to go," the blonde told them.

"Aww, so soon?" Cooper said. Yeah, there really was no need to be sarcastic, but he just couldn't resist.

"Shut it Cooper," Charlotte snapped. "And for your information I actually have a hospital to run, unlike you two slackers."

"Hey!" Violet protested.

"We work too." Cooper said as he shoved some popcorn into his mouth.

Charlotte gave them a smug smile. "Uh huh, sure." And with that she was gone.

"So," Cooper said turning to Vi.

"Sooo," Violet repeated.

He scooted over to the middle of the couch. "Since when does Charlotte have rights to your fridge? And why does she keep following me around. She's like a little blonde dog. It's creepy!"

"Cooper," Vi warned. "What did I tell you about saying mean things."

He rolled his eyes. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"Yep, and you better be nice to her tonight."

"Tonight?" he asked.

"We're meeting the rest of the Oceanside gang at that new restaurant. Remember? I'm bringing Charlotte."

"Vi, you can't bring her. This is an Oceanside thing. She's the enemy, remember? Pacific Wellness Center. Ringing any bells?"

"She wasn't the enemy when you dated her," Violet grumbled.

"Yeah, but you also hated her then."

She threw a pillow at him. "I did not."

He gave her a pointed look. "You called her Cruella."

"Well, that was before I got to know her. She's smart, dedicated, funny, caring, prett-." Violet stopped herself from saying the last word.

Unfortunately Cooper caught the last bit of that sentence. "Did you just call her pretty?"

"No, I was going to say she's pretty…damn good at her job."

He gave her a funny look. "You know, I think you've been spending way too much time away from me. Charles and Charlotte are taking you away from what's really important…"

"Who…Pete?"

He threw a pillow back at her. "No, me. Your best friend."

"I get the hint. We'll spend more time together, but Charlotte has to come along with us sometimes."

"Fine, but she's not coming with us when I meet Charles on Wednesday."

Violet gave offered him a nervous smile. "Yeah, I think I can manage without her for that."


	19. The Oceanside Thing

**Part 19: The Oceanside Thing**

Charlotte was not very happy, she thought she would be, but she wasn't. Violet had invited her to this Oceanside dinner thing at some new hip restaurant. The place was nice. Funky red velvet chairs, and metal sculpture-like tables decorated the floor while colored lights hung from the ceiling. There was also a small dance floor complete with a bar.

It was nice, but that didn't help Charlotte. She was stuck sitting between Violet, who was talking to Addison, and Cooper who was blatantly ignoring her. Naomi had been glaring at her half the time and Sam had been glaring at her the other half. Dell was trying to get Cooper interested into talking about surfboards, but was failing and Pete wasn't even sitting at the table. He was smart and went to the bar.

After a moment's hesitation she followed suit and plopped down onto a bar stool.

She stared at the shiny surface of the bar, mesmerized by her own distorted reflection.

"Rough time?" It was Pete who spoke these words.

She looked away from the surface. "Huh?"

He placed his glass of Grey Goose down and took the seat next to her. "Are they giving you a hard time?"

She snorted. "That's an understatement. Wait till the rest of them find out that we're more than just friends." She dropped her head down into her hands. "I'm in way over my head with you Oceanside people."

Pete, knowing a thing or two about secret relationships, patted her shoulder reassuringly. "They'll get over themselves."

Charlotte looked at him less then assured.

He shrugged.

"Why are you talking to me? Shouldn't you hate me too? I'm the tiger remember?"

He chuckled. "Yes, I know about your stunning attitude, but I also know that you only do it to protect yourself, you know, from getting hurt. I understand."

"You do?"

"I do. You may have noticed that there were two women that came before Addison."

She did remember them. "Guess you have intimacy issues too." She bit her bottom lip as she processed this.

Pete took a swig from his glass. "I was married once. She died."

Surprise showed in Charlotte's eyes, but her composure held. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

He gripped his glass tighter. "I hated her," he said with a considerable amount of anger infused in his words."

"Oh," she said taken aback.

"She was cold and unfeeling. She lied to me, she called me names, she hit me, she made my life miserable and I couldn't even save her life in the end. I failed in that relationship and I failed her." He took another deep drink from his glass before continuing. "When she died a part of my soul died with her and I can never get it back."

"And you never wanted that to happen to you again," Charlotte concluded.

He nodded and stared out into space. A few moments passed and Charlotte felt that she had to say something too. The man just bared his soul for her.

"I had a rough childhood," she offered. "My parents never allowed displays of affection. Big Daddy was harsh, but worse on my brothers." She paused and took a breath. "I was about four when my momma started drinking. Big Daddy never stopped her and he let the addiction run wild. Sometimes she would get angry. She would throw things at us, me and my brothers, and later she started to…hit us, me mainly, 'cause I tried to take care of her.

A few times I ended up in the hospital. Big Daddy, mean son of a bitch, he just said I got what I deserved. I never did anything right by him. I got out as soon as I could, went to med school, graduated top of my class and sped through the hospital till I owned the damn thing. I got through it all by keeping to myself and lashing out at others. No relationships meant no complications. Didn't mean I wanted to be alone though, I just didn't know how not to be alone. I think Violet's my second chance."

"I think Addison's mine."

They turned and looked at their respective girlfriends.

"You know," Pete said turning back to Charlotte. "You did always strike me as a little butch." He grinned roguishly at her.

"Shut up."

"No, really. I think I have a harder time believing Violet would ever be with a woman."

"She kissed me first," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but you jumped her in her own office." He shrugged when she gave him a look. "Addison told me."

"Addison told you what?"

They both jumped at the sound of Addison's voice.

"Addie," Pete said as he pulled the redhead down into his lap. "Getting bored over there?"

"Sam and Nay are burning holes through you just for talking to Cruella over here." Addison nodded her head in her direction.

"Hey!"

"Oh, I'm just kidding," the Addison said, waving her hand dismissively. "We all know that beneath that tough exterior there's a soft gooey center."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Ri-ight." She looked at the couple in front of her and stood. "You know I think I'll leave now and let you two love birds makeout or whatever."

"Soft gooey center!" Addison yelled out as she strode across the floor. At the last moment she changed her course and headed to the bathroom instead of the table. She needed to get away from all the happy people.

In the bathroom she leaned over the sink, closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. She hated talking about her childhood. It brought back memories that she had worked very hard to shove to the back of her mind. But the more she tired to forget, the more she remembered.

_Why couldn't momma just love me?_

She had managed to trap herself in her mind and missed the door to the bathroom open and close as Naomi walked in.

The fertility specialist was surprised to see Charlotte hunched over the sink, looking so vulnerable. When she placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder Charlotte jumped up half a mile into the air.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

The blonde made eye contact with her briefly before looking down at the ground. The contact wasn't brief enough and Naomi noticed the glistening layer of unshed tears in Charlotte's eyes.

"Charlotte, are you okay?"

The blonde turned away from her, but the mother in her urged her on. She put whatever extreme dislike she had for the woman aside and started to rub soothing circles onto Charlotte's back.

"It's okay sweetie, it's okay," she said gently.

"Could you…could you get Violet for me…please?"

"Of course."

The fertility specialist was true to her word and five minutes later Violet walked in.

"Charlotte, what's wrong?"

"I want to go home."

"Okay." Violet held out her arms. "Come here." The blonde obeyed and Violet wrapped her up into a hug and pressed a kiss into her soft yellow hair.

0oo0oo0

"Hey, What's up with Violet?" Sam asked as the therapist left the table.

"I think Charlotte was upset or something," Naomi said vaguely. She still didn't like the idea of Charlotte crumbling in front of her. It made her almost human. "Vi went to help, you know, now that they're friends and everything."

"Really? She's upset?" Cooper asked. He couldn't help, but feel some concern for the blonde, even if he had been mean to her the entire night.

"Yeah."

They all turned to look at Charlotte and Violet exiting the restaurant.

"It's so weird that they're friends now," Sam commented.

"Tell me about it," Cooper said.


	20. Everybody Knows

**Part 20: Everybody Knows**

It was Wednesday and Violet was supposed to be going to lunch with "Charles" and Cooper in an hour. As luck would have it, she hadn't been able to talk to the super busy petite doctor about it and now she was frantically trying to get a hold of Charlotte.

But she had no such luck.

"Cooper," she said as she popped her head into his office. "I'm sorry Charles is… Cooper?" His office was empty. He couldn't possibly be at the restaurant already? She tried his cell and he picked up, sounding flustered.

"Oh Vi, I'm so sorry. Can we do lunch another time? My patient, Liza," Cooper said excitedly. "The drug trial I got her in…it worked and… Vi I gotta go. Sorry." And then he hung up.

"Guess I'm off the hook."

"Well, that's good," Dell said behind her.

She jumped and turned around. "Oh, hey Dell."

"So guess your lunch with Cooper and _Charles _is canceled." Dell walked past her and proceeded to pick up the trash on Cooper's desk

"How do you know about that? And why are you saying Charles like that. I'll have you know that he is a respectable man."

"Really?" Dell said while grimacing at the mess on Cooper's coffee table. "I've never seen a man wear a dress before."

"What?" Violet asked, puzzled by the comment.

"I'm just saying that Charlotte is not a man. I mean I know how she can be sometimes, but calling her a man…. That's a little harsh. Unless you think she really is a dude. Then you are one seriously confused person."

Violet threw her hands up. "Wait. Wait. You know about Charlotte?"

Dell gave her a look. "And how you two make out in the supply room when you think the practice is empty. Yeah I know."

She picked up a crumpled up piece of paper to help Dell along._ Cooper, you're such a slob._

"Who doesn't know about us?" She said to no one in particular.

" Naomi, Sam and Cooper. I think some people in Charlotte's practice know too. Wyatt and Sheldon maybe."

"God, I might as well tell Sam and Naomi too."

Dell looked up from his trash collecting. "And Cooper?"

"I'll tell Cooper eventually."

"Sure, you will."

"I will. By the end of this week everyone will know. Charlotte will be thrilled. Where is everyone anyways?"

"They're in the break room." He shrugged. "It's almost lunch."

She pulled Dell to his feet, earning a surprised, "Hey," and dragged the surfer boy to the break room. Everyone was in there, well everyone except Cooper. They all looked up when she came in dragging Dell.

Naomi looked up from the sandwich she was making. "What's up Vi?"

"I have an announcement to make, which really isn't that big since everyone except you and Sam knows already."

Addison smiled at her encouragingly and Pete gave her a nod.

"So, ah, I've been lying about Charles. I'm not dating Charles. I made him up."

"Charles isn't real," Naomi asked.

"Why would you make that up?" Sam added as he took a sip of his Gatorade.

"I am dating someone, just not him."

"Alright, then who are you dating?" Naomi was really curious now.

Violet took a deep breath and counted to ten. "I'm dating Charlotte."

Sam choked on his drink. Naomi shouted, "What?!" And everyone else was perfectly fine, having known this information beforehand.

"Charlotte King?" Sam squeaked.

"Yeah. That one."

"But Vi, she's a woman," Naomi said.

"Yeah, I know that. Kind of makes sex easier when you know what you're dealing with. Anymore questions? This is your one and only chance."

Naomi squinted her eyes in thought. "Are you happy?"

"Ridiculously."

"Good," Naomi said. "That's it I guess."

"That's it? You don't care that I'm dating the tiger?" Really Violet was expecting something more. Like protesting or disgust.

"We do care. If you're happy then we're happy." Naomi ended with a hug and Sam gave her an awkward pat on the back. "You should bring Charlotte around so we can have a nice chat with her."

"More like an interrogation," Sam coughed.

Violet laughed. "Yeah. I'm sure she'll enjoy that."


	21. A Nice Talk

**Part 21: A Nice Talk**

Charlotte King was looking for Violet. The therapist had left many messages on her cell about some lunch with Charles and Cooper. It didn't really matter at this point. Lunchtime was over.

"Who the hell is Charles?" She muttered.

Charlotte stepped onto the elevator and punched the button for the Oceanside floor. She waited impatiently while cursing at the elevator to move faster. Eventually the doors slid open and she was free. She headed straight towards the therapist's office only to find it empty.

"Dr. King."

She turned around only to come face to face with Naomi. "Dr. Bennett?"

"Your girlfriend isn't here," Naomi said quickly. "She just left."

"Oh, thank you." Charlotte began to walk away and then stopped, frozen in place. She narrowed her eyes at the fertility specialist. "Did you say girlfriend?"

She glared at Naomi and took a step forward in an effort to seem intimidating. The fertility specialist wasn't fazed at all.

"She told us an hour ago. Well, just Sam and me really. Everyone else kind of just figured it out for themselves or something. I think Violet left to find you and tell you about all of that. She'll probably come back soon and while we wait why don't we have a nice talk."

"A nice talk?" Charlotte said dubiously. She may have been dating one of the Oceanside people, but that didn't mean that they were friends or that she trusted them. Naomi boldly slipped an arm around her arm and led her to the conference room.

"Why don't you have a seat?"

"Fine," she said irritably. "Now what do you want to talk about?"

Naomi winced at the way Charlotte's accent was grating on her ears. "So how long have you and Violet been dating?"

"One month, two weeks, four days."

"That's…exact," Naomi said taken aback. "Are you nice to her?"

"Of course I am!" Charlotte huffed and crossed her arms. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I can be nice."

Naomi's lips twitched up. "Yeah, you're just a bundle of niceness. So is this…your first time…with a woman?"

Charlotte blushed. "Yes."

"Do you like it?" Naomi asked candidly.

Charlotte just gave her a look. Like she would gossip with these nosy Oceanside people.

Naomi shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "What? I'm just curious."

"I love Violet," She said firmly.

"Oh." Naomi's eyes softened. "Does she know that?"

Charlotte looked down at the table, suddenly fascinated by it's surface. "Not yet, but I'm gonna tell her. Soon. I was going to tell her over dinner last week, but, ah, that was a disaster," she confided.

"A disaster? Really Charlotte?" Addison said from the doorway of the conference room.

Naomi smiled at her friend and motioned for her to sit down.

"Great, now Montgomery's here. It's a party," Charlotte said sarcastically.

Addison smiled and sighed. "Some things never change. So tell us about this disastrous date."

"The waiter spilled wine all over Violet's brand new dress and then set the table on fire."

"Oh my god," Naomi gasped.

"That's horrible," Addison said.

"It wasn't so bad. Violet found the whole thing kinda funny and we went to McDonald's instead. And then after that…we had dessert." She grinned at the memory of their 'dessert'.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Charlotte." Addison laughed.

Just then Pete ducked his head into the room to see what was going on. "Oh, girltalk. I'll come back later." He paused at the doorway and then came back in. "Violet's here Charlotte."

"I could just be here for work," she shouted back at him. She could hear Addison and Naomi chuckling silently behind her. She turned back to the other doctors, but was really waiting for Violet to walk in. And a minute later she was not disappointed.

"Hi, guys." Violet came to stand behind her. "Hi Charlotte."

She looked up at Violet and couldn't help, but smile a little. She communicated wordlessly that she knew everyone here at Oceanside knew about them.

Violet returned her smile and leaned down to kiss her.

A chorus of, "Ooo's," came from the doorway. All four women turned to see, Surfer boy, Sam and Pete. Apparently Charlotte and Violet had an audience.

"Damn voyeurs," Charlotte grumbled.


	22. Happy Birthday Charlotte

**Part 22: Happy Birthday Charlotte**

Violet Turner really liked whipped cream and apparently so did Charlotte, because Charlotte had come over that night with her little bag of tricks and pulled out can of the stuff along with a pair of handcuffs. They could save the handcuffs for later, but right now Charlotte was licking whipped cream off of her stomach.

"Charlotte, that feels good," she groaned.

The blonde raised her head and gave her an impish grin before moving her mouth to swirl her tongue around Violet's nipple. Violet moaned again in delight and racked her nails down Charlotte's back.

Somewhere in the background she heard a strange beeping. At first it didn't register in her mind and then she realized that it must have been Charlotte's cell.

"Charlotte."

"Mmm?"

"Your cell."

The blonde sighed and removed her mouth from Violet's body and reached over to the side table and grabbed her cell.

"Dr. King." A pause. "I'll be right there." The blonde hung up and leaned down to give her a parting kiss. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." And then she was gone.

The past few nights had one exactly like that. The blonde had been extremely busy the last few days and there was barely enough time to talk, but they were both doctors and it came with the job, so she just let any resentment that might have developed go.

When she woke up the next morning the can of whipped cream was still sitting on her nightstand. She studied it for a moment before picking up the can and spraying some of it into her mouth. So she didn't eat a healthy breakfast. It's not like any one was going to stop her.

0oo0oo0

Violet had just walked into practice when she noticed something strange. Cooper was in his office arranging a bouquet of iris and sunflowers in a blue vase.

She grinned at her friend as she crossed the threshold. "Uh, Coop? Did someone get you flowers?"

He turned away from the flowers on the desk to give her a look. "They're for Charlotte."

Her smile froze. "Ch-Charlotte? W-why would you get flowers for Charlotte?"

Cooper rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting back together with her Vi. It's Charlotte's birthday. I thought I'd do something nice for her."

She laughed at herself internally. Cooper was so over Charlotte. But then she froze again. "It's Charlotte's birthday? Today?"

"Yeah," Cooper said while removing a wilted iris. "You're her friend, shouldn't you know that." He winced and added, "Sorry I didn't mean it to come out like that. Charlotte doesn't like to make a big deal out of her birthday, so I guess she wouldn't really want you to know about it."

"Great," she said and then walked out.

On the way to buying Charlotte's last minute birthday gift Violet was officially freaking out. For her, birthdays were a big deal. Of course when you're friends with Cooper any holiday that a child might like was a huge deal. So she was frantically thinking of a present that would rock Charlotte's world.

Should she be romantic? Probably not. Charlotte would probably laugh at that. Anyways she was the romantic one in this relationship. Should she get her something practical? No. Something funny. That would probably piss the blonde off.

Then she thought of the perfect gift.

0oo0oo0

Charlotte was just starting on her paperwork when Cooper barged in. She ignored him and hoped he would go away, but of course the man just wouldn't leave her alone. And today of all days, he just had to annoy her.

"Cooper, go away."

"I have something for you." Cooper walked forward and placed the vase of flowers he had been carrying on her desk. "Happy Birthday."

At this she looked up. "You bought me flowers?" She took a moment to admire them. "Thank you."

"No problem." He made to leave, but lingered by the doorway a moment. "You should celebrate Charlotte. Just because your family ruined a few of them doesn't mean that you have to hate birthdays forever."

"Maybe," she said carefully.

"You know," Cooper said with a grin. "Violet might have something in store for you too."

"Violet?"

"Yeah. That tall Amazonian therapist with the crazy curly hair. Your supposed BFF."

"BFF?" Charlotte said uncertainly.

"Best friends forever. Come on Char, all the kids are saying it. Its totally hip."

She rolled her eyes. "I know what it means Cooper and nobody says hip anymore." She smirked at him. "You're getting old."

"Okay, that was mean, even for you."

0oo0oo0

Violet had bought the expensive, custom designed chocolate raspberry cake bought the stupid shiny balloons, bought Charlotte's favorite wine along with her favorite foods, rented the birthday girl's favorite movie and finally wrapped the gift.

Everything was ready to go. The table was set, the candles were lit, the atmosphere was causal, but still romantic. The balloons were floating around and the gift was sitting on Charlotte's plate. All that was missing was the birthday girl herself.

She paced impatiently by the front door for half an hour before someone, probably Charlotte, knocked. She felt a bubble of excitement well up in her as she reached for the doorknob.

"Charlotte!" She said as she threw open the doors with noticeable enthusiasm. She was glad the blonde didn't show up in one of her 'outfits'. It would have been a little weird if she had to eat with a French maid or a sexy cop.

The blonde smiled tiredly at her. "Hi Violet. Can I ask why you're so happy?"

"It's um..well…" She dragged the blonde over to the dinning room where the room was light by candles and everything was seemingly perfect. "Surprise!"

Charlotte was stunned. Cooper had hinted at a little something, but this was almost too much. She smiled, almost shyly, at Violet and kissed her gently on her lips.

"This is a nice surprise," Charlotte commented.

"I know. Here, come sit." She said gesturing to the chair.

The blonde sat and looked down at her plate with the pleasantly wrapped package on it. "Am I supposed to eat this?"

Violet rolled her eyes and said, "It's your present, open it." She leaned forward with a wide smile plastered on her face and watched the blonde tentatively pick up her gift.

"Violet."

"Yes?"

"Stop looking at me like that. Its creepy."

"Sorry."

Charlotte resumed opening her gift. She carefully undid the tape and peeled back the colorful paper to reveal a book.

The blonde smiled when she read the title, "To Kill a Mockingbird. This is my favorite book."

"I know. It's a first edition," Violet added. "Look on the inside."

Charlotte opened the book to see a penned signature on the first page. She gasped. "It's signed by the author! These are impossible to find."

She shrugged. "I know a guy."

"This is the best birthday I've ever had," Charlotte declared.

Violet laughed. "All you did was open the present. We haven't even celebrated yet."

"We haven't?"

Violet smiled sadly at the blonde. "It's been a while since you've celebrated, huh?"

She moved closer to the blonde and Charlotte put down the book and looked up at her with haunted green eyes. "Yeah. I don't have very happy memories of these days."

Violet cupped Charlotte's cheek with her hand and ran her thumb over the blonde's lips. "I can change that." And then she leaned in and kissed the blonde. She felt the blonde's tongue search for an opening and she let the blonde in to caress her mouth. She moaned in appreciation and pulled the blonde out of her chair.

Charlotte in return wrapped her legs around Violet's waist. Violet pulled her lips away from the blonde for a moment. "Mmm, this is nice, but Charlotte I have this activity planned for later."

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow. "You have an itinerary?"

"Maybe," she said shyly. She set the blonde down, but kept her arms wrapped around her.

"What do you have planned first, then?" The blonde let out a small huff of frustration. She really wanted Violet.

"Romantic dinner and wine, followed by birthday cake and singing and then well…you know."

Charlotte leaned down kissed a wet trail along the therapist's neck. "Mmm, I think I know."

"Happy birthday Charlotte."


	23. All You Have To Say Is

**Part 23: All You Have To Say Is…**

Addison woke up feeling nauseous, the feeling only got worse when she stepped into the kitchen and got a whiff of the coffee Pete was brewing. It was a very nice thing for her boyfriend to do and she did appreciate it, but right now she wished he had just slept in and left the coffee till later.

Pete smiled at her with a cup of that obnoxious smelling stuff in his hands. "Hey Beautiful."

She opened her mouth and then quickly shut it. _I think I'm going to be sick._

She ran to the to the bathroom without an explanation and proceeded to puke into the toilet. Pete followed behind, growing exceedingly worried.

"Oh, god," she moaned while clutching her stomach.

"Addie," Pete said from the doorway of the bathroom. "Are you okay?"

She raised her hand to indicate that she was fine. "It's just something I ate. I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

0oo0oo0

Oceanside Wellness had been up and running all morning. Patients were coming in with problems and leaving with solutions. Violet herself was having a very good day and was making good progress with her OCD patient.

"Well Jared, our time is up," she said. They stood and Violet offered her hand to him. He looked at it hesitantly and then shook it without asking her to sterilize it. "See your not letting the disorder control you. You're controlling it."

Her patient smiled and walked out without saying a word. She couldn't help, but return the smile, even if her patient couldn't see it. And as she smiled Cooper walked by.

"Hey Vi. You look happy," he said.

"That's because I am."

They continued to chat on amicably until Addison rushed by. They waved, but the redhead didn't seem to see them. This sent warning flags up for both of them.

"Hey, what's wrong with her?" Cooper asked. They watched her bang open the door to the restroom. They looked at each other. One of them had to do something.

"Alright," she sighed. 'I'll go see what's wrong."

Cooper grinned at her before walking into to the lobby to greet his next patient. Violet on the other hand set about her task of finding out what was wrong with the redhead. All the stall doors were closed, but she could hear someone retching into a toilet.

"Addison?"

There was a flush, followed by the stall door opening. Addison stepped out, looking pale and shaky. The redhead looked in her direction once, before making her way slowly to the sink. There was a long stretch of silence as Addison washed her hands.

"You don't look so good," she finally said.

"I'm fine," Addison claimed.

"Yeah, and so are all my patients. Addison I think you should go home. You're obviously not feeling well."

"But I have three more patients to see. And I so stole one from Charlotte today."

She laughed at the redhead but said, "Don't be mean to my girlfriend."

"Sure." Addison paused and then added, "You know what? I think I will go home."

"Should I get Pete?" She asked.

Addison put a hand up to stop her. "No, no. He's making a house call. I'll just grab my patient's file from Pacific Wellcare, gloat a little and then go home."

"Don't gloat too much, Charlotte will come home angry. On a second thought that's not such a bad idea. She does get a little more…" She smiled a private smile. "Excited, when she's mad."

Addison threw her hands up. "Okay, way too much information."

Violet grinned. "Well, I should go. My next patient is going to be here in a few minutes. I hope you feel better."

0oo0oo0

Addison left the restroom a few minutes after Violet did and went down to Pacific Wellcare, but instead of requesting her patient's file she slipped into the restroom. No one would bother her in the enemy restroom. It was empty when she entered and she was glad for it. Still, she glanced around nervously when she opened her purse and pulled out a pregnancy test.

She was nervous and excited. She had wanted a baby for such a long time and after hearing the news that she was unable to conceive, no viable eggs, as Naomi had said, she had given up hope and she had also give up on using contraceptives.

She wondered how Pete would react. Would he still want to be with her? Would he love their child? She tossed those thoughts aside. She was certain that Pete would be okay with the pregnancy. They were in love.

Just as she pulled the test stick out of the box, a toilet flushed. She silently cursed herself for not checking each stall. She had no time to hide the test as the stall door opened and Charlotte walked out. The blonde ignored her presence and proceeded to wash her hands. She hoped that Charlotte would continue to not notice her.

"Is that a pregnancy test?"

She spoke to soon.

"Yes." She couldn't suppress the oncoming smile.

Charlotte gave her a look.

"It's nothing. It's just…" She put the test stick down. "I came to LA so I could have a baby and then I was told that I had no chance. I've been waiting for this baby for so long and I think it's with the right guy too."

Charlotte nodded in understanding. "This is your happy ending."

"Exactly." She smiled again and stared off into space dreamily. After a minute passed the blonde beside her let out a huff of air.

"Are you going to pee on that stick or what?" Charlotte said grumpily.

She laughed at Charlotte as the blonde pulled a pair of latex gloves from her lab coat pocket and handed it to her. Then came the test stick.

"Go. Pee," the blonde directed.

She put on the gloves, took the stick and entered the stall. It was a little awkward peeing on the stick, knowing that Charlotte was waiting just outside her stall.

"Hurry, up Montgomery. For god's sake all you have to do is piss on that stick!"

"I can't, you're making me nervous."

"Think of waterfalls," Charlotte suggested.

"Waterfalls?"

"That's what Cooper told me when-." Charlotte stopped speaking immediately.

Addison did the deed and stepped out of the stall. Charlotte was avoiding eye contact with her.

"You thought you were pregnant?" Addison asked.

"Yes, but obviously I wasn't." Charlotte looked down at her wristwatch. "I'm timing it now."

"Okay," She said while hopping up to sit on the sink counter. "So, do you want kids?" She was just making conversation with the blonde.

The blonde looked down at her watch again. "Yes," Charlotte said softly.

"I have a name picked out already," Addison said while smiling. "Carson. It works for a boy or a girl." She saw the face Charlotte was making. "What?"

"It's an ugly name."

"Well, I'd like to see you do better."

Charlotte thought about it for a moment. "Well, if it's a boy you should name him after Pete. Peter's a good name.

Addison thought about it and agreed. "Okay. That is a good name. What if it's a girl?"

Charlotte picked up the test stick. "If it's a girl you should name her after me. Charlotte is a very pretty name," the blonde said matter-of-factly. Though she was just joking.

Addison chuckled. "I'll think about it." She looked at the stick in Charlotte's hand and then at the blonde's face. Charlotte gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Do you want me to look?"

She nodded and then held her breath.

Charlotte smiled at her. "You're pregnant."

She beamed, grabbed the stick from Charlotte's hand to confirm it and then threw her arms around the blonde in an excited hug.

"Montgomery, I know you're happy, but if you don't stop crushing me to death I will make you eat this test stick."

She detangled herself from Charlotte. The blonde smoothed the creases on her pristine white lab coat and glared at her. She just continued grinning.

"Congratulations Addison. Stop by here in an hour with Pete and we'll do an ultrasound, just to check and make sure everything's okay."

"Aww, Charlotte, you're going soft on me."

"I am not. And for your information I'm doing it for little Montgomery."

0oo0oo0

Charlotte didn't even have to wait an hour because within thirty-five minutes Addison and Pete were in exam room one waiting eagerly for her.

"Hop up on the table Montgomery."

The redhead grinned at Pete and then at her and lay down on the exam table for the ultrasound. She raised Addison's shirt up, squirted the gel onto the redhead's stomach and started probing the area with the wand.

"Okay," Charlotte said as she looked at the screen. "There we are. That's your baby, Montgomery."

She took a moment to marvel at the little embryo with the rapidly beating heart.

"Hey," Addison said taking his hand. "We made that."

Pete leaned down and kissed his girlfriend gently. "Yes, we did."

She pressed print on the machine and used that task to hide the oncoming smile the happy couple caused. She was genuinely surprised that she could be so happy for these Oceanside people.

_God, Montgomery's right. I am going soft._

When she looked back over at the happy couple, Pete had cleaned off the gel and Addison was coming down from the table. She gave the couple another moment to be all stupid in love before handing them their baby's first picture.

"Here you go," she said. "Now get out 'cause I've actually have doctors, lot's of doctors actually, who need to use this room. Go back to Oceanside." She turned back to the ultrasound machine to turn it off.

"Charlotte," Addison called. She turned. "Thanks." Pete echoed the sentiment.

She nodded and turned back to the machine. When the room emptied she left and headed the fifth floor to find Violet. After witnessing joy of Pete and Addison she felt that it was time that Violet knew how she felt. She had to express her own joy. She needed to say how much she loved her.

0oo0oo0

On the floor above the petite blonde doctor, Violet was also thinking about taking a step forward in their relationship. She was going to ask Charlotte to move in with her. They had been together for a while now and it seemed right.

_She practically already lives there. I can't even remember the last time she slept in her own house._

She was about to leave for the fourth floor when Charlotte herself walked in.

"Violet. I have something to tell you." She blonde strode across her office, sat on her couch and then stood and walked over to where she was sitting at her desk. "It's something really important." The blonde began to pace the room.

She watched the blonde curiously and wondered what could make Charlotte so flustered. "I have something to say too," she said while Charlotte was pacing.

"Violet," the blonde began. "I-."

"Move in with me," She blurted out. She winced at the way her words came out.

Charlotte stopped pacing. "What?" Confusion was written all over the blonde's face. She clearly was not expecting that.

She stood up and stepped closer to the blonde. "Move in with me. I want you to. And besides most of your stuff is at my house already. And I can make more room. You can definitely have the home office, 'cause let's face it, I never use the thing. "

She rambled on for a little longer before noticing that the blonde wasn't responding at all. She stopped talking and watched the blonde walk towards the door. At first she thought Charlotte was leaving and then she realized that the blonde was only just closing the door and the blinds.

Charlotte turned to her. "For a therapist, you're not a very good listener. I'm trying to tell you something."

Violet let out a huff of anger. Charlotte wasn't even answering her question. "Charlotte, I'm trying to move forward with you. If you don't want to move in, all you have to say is-."

"I love you." The words were rushed, but sure. Charlotte had meant them.

She stood there shocked for a moment before replying. "You do?" She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She was a hopeless romantic. "I love you too," she said softly. She felt a tear or two roll down her cheek, but the blond quickly kissed them away and then wrapped her up into a hug.

"And to answer your question, yes, I will move in with you," the blond said. "God, you're so impatient sometimes. You couldn't just wait for me too say what I had to say?"

"Charlotte."

"What?"

"Shh. You're ruining the moment."

"Oh, sorry." Charlotte shifted in her embrace and found a more comfortable position. "I really do love you Violet. I mean it."

"I know."


	24. Too Late To Go Back To Sleep

**Part 24: Too Late To Go Back To Sleep**

"Morning," Violet said as she rolled over on the bed to see her very naked, very beautiful girlfriend. Charlotte had moved in officially last week, but she was still enjoying the newness of it. She loved that they shared a home together.

"Go back to sleep," the blonde said groggily. "It's your day off and I still have an hour till I have to get up."

"I know," she said as she ran her hand along the blonde's side. Charlotte's skin was smooth and soft. She relished the feeling. Her hand caressed the side of the blonde's breast, then slide down to her hips and then stopped at the blonde's thigh.

Charlotte turned over to face her and gave her a slow seductive smile.

"Yeah, you're right, we should just back to sleep," she said.

She made too move, but the blonde was on top of her within the blink of an eye and the sheet that had been wrapped around them was pushed away and eventually fell to the floor.

"Too late to go back to sleep," Charlotte murmured before kissing her thoroughly.

She moaned in appreciation as the blonde's hands reached down to cup her breasts. Charlotte's mouth was soon to follow, to allow her hands to wander down to other places. And those small slender hands crept their way to her thighs and the blonde stroked her gently and she cried out as Charlotte entered her.

The morning was going along perfectly, but Violet had forgotten about one thing. Cooper was coming over this morning to take her to what he described as, 'the best breakfast buffet ever!' As luck would have it he was just coming up the stairs to wake Violet up. He figured she had overslept or something. She was usually very good about getting up on time, but whatever.

Cooper was definitely not ready to see what was in store for him when he opened her bedroom door. As far as he knew Violet and Charlotte were just friends. He was the only one in the practice who didn't know.

He opened the door quickly, without knocking. He didn't think he needed to.

"Vi,-." The rest of his words hung in the air. In front of him were two completely naked women. His best friend and his ex. Charlotte was lying on top of his friend with her bare backside exposed to him and Violet was kissing his ex's neck and with one leg wrapped around Charlotte's waist.

Charlotte and Violet froze when they noticed him.

"Oh, my god," Cooper said. He walked back out and slammed the door.

"I'll go talk to him," Violet said.

"No," Charlotte said detangling herself from the therapist. "I will. He doesn't want to see his best friend naked. I used to sleep with him, I'll do it." Violet nodded and then sat up to hug her arms around her knees. She was really bothered by this.

"I should have told him," Violet said as she watched Charlotte retrieve the forgotten sheet and wrap it around herself.

"Probably," Charlotte agreed. "But we can't do anything about that." She kissed Violet and went downstairs to find Cooper. She found him staring blankly at the front door. He turned when he heard footsteps and he looked furious.

"Cooper," she pleaded.

"You're sleeping with her! What the hell are you doing?"

"Calm down. I can explain."

"Explain?" He laughed bitterly and focused his attention on anywhere, but her and her sheet covered body. "You can't sleep with my best friend, Charlotte. Are you doing this to get back at me for breaking up with you? Is that what this is? Are you just using her?"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not using her."

He slapped her hand away. "Then what are you doing? You're straight Charlotte."

"I'm not so sure about that anymore," she said, more to herself than to Cooper. "I love her, Cooper. I'm in love with her."

"Could you stop lying to me just this once!"

"I'm not lying!" She yelled. Her voice cracked and she could already feel hot tears spilling down her face. "I'm Charles Lindberg!"

There was a long pause as Cooper worked out this information in his head. "You're Charles?"

She nodded yes. "It was just an alias."

"Then that means she's been seeing you for almost three months now."

She nodded.

"I can't believe it."

"Well you better."

"I can't believe Violet lied to me." Cooper balled up his fists in anger. "She never lies to me. We're best friends. You can't sleep with her!" He let out a growl of frustration. "Could you just go home," he told her. "I want to talk to Violet. Alone"

"Cooper, I live here. She asked me to move in with her last week."

"You live here?" he said incredulously. "You know what? I can't deal with all of this right now. I'm gone." And then he was.

0oo0oo0

Cooper stormed his way into the practice, and found his way into the break room, where everyone except Violet was.

"Cooper, what are you doing here?" Naomi asked. "It's your day off."

He grabbed a mug angrily and filled it to the brim with coffee. "Do you have any work for me to do? I'll do paperwork or whatever," he said as he stared into his mug.

"Cooper what's wrong?" Sam asked.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that Charlotte has been sleeping with my best friend for three months and Violet has been lying to me." He looked up when nobody said anything. He noticed then that none of them looked even remotely surprised.

"You know? All of you know? They told you guys, but not me?! My best friend and the woman I thought I was in love with told you guys that they were sleeping together?"

"Well, to be honest," Addison offered. "They didn't tell me. I found them in the supply room doing…you know. And then I told Pete."

Okay that made sense, he thought. "Wait, why would you tell Pete?" _Why didn't she tell Naomi?_

"Because." Pete joined in. "Addison and I are dating."

"You're dating?" Naomi asked, with a trace of hurt in her voice. "You didn't tell me that." And then the fertility specialist left. Addison followed after.

"I heard them making out in the supply room," Dell said nervously. "That's how I found out. Uh, I'm going to go."

Sam and Pete were the only ones left now.

"Violet actually told Naomi and me," Sam admitted before he too escaped.

"They're in love," Pete offered. "Violet was afraid you wouldn't approve."

0oo0oo0

"Nay," Addison pleaded. "Come on, don't be mad."

Naomi collapsed in her desk chair. "How could you not tell me?"

"Because… I don't know. There was just less pressure when nobody knew about us."

Naomi sighed. "Fine."

"Can I tell you something?"

Naomi looked up to see her friend smiling. "Let me guess, you're in love."

"Well, yes but…"

Naomi was interested now and she almost forgot to be mad at the grinning redhead. "What Addison?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh, my god!" She smiled back at the redhead, anger completely forgotten. She got up and hugged Addison. "Congratulations! It's Pete's right?"

"No it's Dell's. Of course it's Pete's!"

They were both so excited. They jumped up and down and let out little shrieks of happiness.

0oo0oo0

Back in the break room:

"They're in love," Pete repeated. "And they're happy.  
Cooper sighed. "I swear if Charlotte hurts her-."

"She's not going to do that. Trust me."

Cooper nodded, but he wasn't so sure about that. "So, you and Addison?"

Pete was about to respond, but he was interrupted by shrieking.

Naomi rushed in suddenly. "Everyone in the conference room!" She shouted.

Cooper looked at Pete and shrugged, but followed after an excited Naomi. Soon he was joined by the rest of the practice, except Violet. No one had bothered to take a seat and they were looking anxiously at Naomi and Addison.

"Everyone, Addison has something to say," Naomi announced.

Addison beamed. "I'm pregnant."

"That's great!" Sam said.

"Congrats," Copper offered.

"Wow, that's amazing," Dell said.

While everyone was busy congratulating Addison, Pete slipped out. It was only moments later that the rest noticed.

"Where'd Pete go," Naomi asked. "We didn't get to congratulate him yet."

"He must have had a patient,' Addison offered and then she jumped up. "Opps and so do I. I almost forgot."

0oo0oo0

Charlotte almost didn't answer her phone when it rang. She was having the crappiest day. Cooper was furious, Violet was depressed and she was still busy as ever and just about to go on her lunch break.

Her cell stopped ringing, but made a beeping sound a minute later. She opened her phone and read the text message.

**Meet me at 10 Concord Ave.**

**-Pete**

She sighed and reached for her purse. She could always eat later.

The address Pete had given her brought her to a jewelry store, a really nice and upscale jewelry store. She knew because she had gone there a couple of times and made some excellent purchases. She had exceptional taste in fine things. She parked and Pete waved to her from his place outside the front door.

"I need your help," he told her. "I need to get an engagement ring for Addie and it has to be perfect."

"You called me here to go ring shopping," she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, well, you're a girl."

"That was your only criteria?"

"And you're not impossible to hang out with. And I know you won't let it slip that I'm going to propose."

"Fine. What do you know about engagement rings?"

He shrugged. "They're shiny?"

She grimaced. "We have a lot of work to do."

0oo0oo0

Violet was sitting on Cooper's little couch in his office. He was still in the exam room with his patient. It had been an emergency appointment, so the kid he was treating was lucky that Cooper decided to come in when he did. She waited another ten minutes and then he walked in.

"Cooper," she pleaded.

"Vi, I really can't deal with this now."

"Coop, I'm sorry I lied. I should have told you, I know that, but I was afraid you wouldn't approve and that you would act exactly the way you're acting now. I love her Coop. She makes me happy."

He collapsed on the couch next to her. "I don't disapprove of your relationship with Charlotte, okay. I'm mad that you lied to me for three months. There were so many times when you could have told me the truth. And Violet she's my ex-girlfriend. You're not supposed to date her. Though I'm sure she probably started this. She can be a little aggressive."

"She didn't start it. I did."

He looked at her in surprise.

"I know I probably shouldn't have. Do you know how weird it is to find yourself suddenly attracted to a woman?"

He smiled just a little. "It really isn't that weird for me. I find myself suddenly attracted to women all the time."

She punched him playfully. "You know what I mean. She and I…I don't know Coop. I just know I want to be with her. Forgive me?"

He was silent for a moment. "I don't know. Give me some time to get used to it and we'll see. And I still don't have to like Charlotte. I don't even have to talk to her."

"Fine."

"Soo, you like women?"

"Just Charlotte."

"Does she still wear those outfits?" He grinned.

She blushed. "Yes."

"And you like them?"

"Cooper!" Things seemed to be going good. He was going o forgive her she was sure of it.

He smiled at her and then his smiled faded.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He couldn't seem to look her in the eye anymore. "I can't do this Vi. I can't deal with this. What you did…it hurts. Just leave me alone for a while. Please."

"O-okay." She removed herself from the couch and left quickly. She felt like crying. She knew he wouldn't forgive her instantly, but to completely shut her out was just cruel.

0oo0oo0

Hours later, well to be exact, two hours later Charlotte had finally found the perfect ring. The band was white gold and a large flawless diamond sat in between two smaller ones.

"It's beautiful. She'll love it." Charlotte handed the small blue velvet box back to Pete.

"Thanks, for helping Charlotte. It really means a lot too me."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever. Don't go all mushy on me."

Pete just laughed.

0oo0oo0

Violet stepped out of Cooper's office, to find the practice buzzing with activity. Everyone seemed a little excited she noticed.

"Hey Sam," She said as she ducked into his office. He was sitting at his desk, doing something on the computer.

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"Besides the little war you and the tiger have started with Cooper?"

She waved her hand at him dismissively. "I mean what's going on with the rest of you guys?"

"Oh that's right you weren't here." He sat up a little straight. "Guess who's pregnant?"

"Well I'm pretty sure it isn't you." She thought about what he said and then her eyes widened in surprise. "Sam are you telling me that Naomi's pregnant?"

His eyes grew round with surprise. "No, no," he laughed. "Addison's pregnant."

"Oh. That's wonderful. Where is she?"

"St. Ambrose."

"I guess I'll have to congratulate her later."

Violet stayed at the practice the rest of the day, even though it was her day off. She caught up on all her paperwork, reorganized her filing cabinets, cleaned her office and then moved onto cleaning the break room. She was just wiping down the shelves in the fridge.

It was late now and nearly everyone had left the practice. She was still here because she was waiting for Charlotte to close up her practice. And she was pretty sure Cooper was still here just to watch them leave together. He hadn't spoken to her the rest of the day, but she knew he was just dealing with her and Charlotte's relationship in his own way, but she still couldn't help but feel the little pangs of pain in her heart.

"Why are you cleaning the fridge?" Charlotte said from behind her.

She shrugged. "It's my day off."

Charlotte let out a huff of laughter and she turned around. The blonde looked exhausted. She put the sponge she had been using back into the sink and walked over to the blonde.

"Guess, who loves you," She told Charlotte while gently placing her arms around the blonde's waist.

"Hmm," Charlotte said, pretending to think. "Sheldon?"

"No. I think he's more afraid of you. I-."

Charlotte cut her off with a series of delicious kisses. "It must be you then," the blonde said. "Come on let's go home. I'm dead tired."

They ran into Cooper by the elevator. I looked like they would be riding down together. Very awkward.

"Night Coop," she said as they all enter the elevator.

He didn't respond, but he looked in her direction, which was progress. Though he flat out refused to acknowledge Charlotte's presence. The blonde didn't seem to care, but she did and his silence hurt.

Progress indeed.


	25. Purple Lunchbox

**Just wanted to let you guys know that there will be one more chapter after this one and then an epilogue. Thanks for reading everyone. **

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Part 25: Purple Lunchbox

Violet was standing outside of what used to be her home office. It was Charlotte's office now and the blonde had been in there since she had come home from work. She really needed to get a book, but she was afraid to go in.

The blonde had been very agitated all evening, which was probably why she had shut herself away. Alone time was good, but not at the expense of quality time with one's girlfriend.

She took a deep breath and opened the door quietly. Charlotte was talking rapidly into the phone. Whatever she was talking about, it sounded important. The blonde glared at her as soon as she entered and she regretted her decision. But she was here, so she might as well grab the book she needed.

Charlotte waved her hand towards the door furiously, indicating that she should leave. She mouthed the words, "One second," and scurried across the room to the bookcases on the other side. In her haste she knocked a pile of files off of Charlotte's desk.

"I'll have to call you right back Dr. Shane," Charlotte spoke into the phone. "I have another important matter to attend."

She found the book she was looking for and reached up for it. Behind her Charlotte hung up the phone, glared at the oblivious Violet and then down at the mess of files on the floor.

"Dammit Violet!"

She whipped around with the book in her hand and finally noticed the mess she had made.

"Oh, um…"

"It'll take me forever to get these back in order," the blonde fumed.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly.

"Just, get out." Charlotte rubbed her eyes and then looked back at the mess. The blonde was tired, under a lot of stress and still had a lot more work to do. The fact that she was even home at all was a miracle.

"Charlotte, it was just an accident," Violet reasoned.

Charlotte's temper flared. "Well, I told you to get out before it happened."

"For god's sakes all Ineeded was one book."

"Violet, I really can't deal with crap like this right now. Just leave will you?"

"Fine. If that's what you want," Violet snapped. And then she left slamming the door behind her. Yes, it was a little dramatic, but she wanted to convey to Charlotte that she did not appreciate being treated like one of her staff.

She headed straight for their bedroom, slammed that door too and then locked it. After flopping down on the king sized bed she plucked the phone out of its cradle and dialed Cooper's number. It had been a week since Cooper had found out about Charlotte and her and for that entire week he hadn't been speaking to her. And that really hurt her.

They were best friends. They talked, they joked, they had each other's backs, but not anymore.

She heard the phone ring over and over again. She tried his cell next and he also didn't pick up. She really needed her friend right now. She needed to vent, to analyze, to talk about everything on her mind.

She tried his house phone again and just like the last seven days he was intentionally ignoring her calls. She put the phone down and buried her head in her pillow. She could feel tears coming on. They had never fought before. She shouldn't have lied to Cooper, but it was necessary.

She let out a sob of despair and then reached for the phone again. It was no use. No matter how many times she tried to contact him, he just ignored her. In an impulsive rush, she flung the phone across the room and it hit the wall with a thud before clattering to the ground.

She was crying freely now. She just wished there was a way for everyone to be happy.

There was a knock at the bedroom door. She didn't bother moving from the bed.

"Violet, are you okay? I heard a crash or something." Charlotte said from the other side of the door.

She didn't respond.

"Are you crying?"

"No," she sobbed.

"You are." Charlotte tried to open the door and frowned when she found it locked. "Open the door."

She didn't move from her place on the bed.

"This is my bedroom too. You asked me to move in and now you're making me feel unwelcomed."

She got finally got up and unlocked the door. Once the blonde was in she went right back to the bed and hid herself under the covers. She wanted to be alone, but she felt Charlotte get on the other side of the bed and lie next to her.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," the blonde told her softly. "I'm sorry. I've been under a lot of stress lately. I mean a whole lot. There was this little scandal at St. Ambrose and I had to fire two of my best doctors. It's a complete mess and I'm just tired and worn out and not much fun to be around…"

She came out from under the blankets and took a real good look at the blonde. She hadn't noticed before, but Charlotte looked kind of pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. The blonde also looked a little thinner.

She had been so focused on Cooper that she had missed this transformation. "I've been neglecting you," she said aloud. She caressed the Charlotte's cheek with her hand and leaned over to plant a soft kiss on her lips. "Look at you," she chastised. "You look horrible."

"That doesn't really help," Charlotte told her. "Are you okay?"

"You were being kind of bitchy, but I'm not crying because of you." She gestured to the broken phone on the floor. "I tried calling Cooper. He still won't talk to me."

The blonde patted her on the arm and said, "Give him time."

0oo0oo0

Charlotte walked into Pacific Wellcare that morning with a purple lunchbox, which contained a healthy nutritious meal, packed by Violet. Violet had informed her last night that she needed to stop skipping meals because she was going to starve to death.

She told the therapist that she was being overly dramatic, but nevertheless here she was with an embarrassing purple lunchbox. She deposited the box in her office and then made her way up to Oceanside. She had a definite reason for this visit. She intended to talk some sense into Cooper and she knew that Violet didn't come in till an hour later, so she had plenty of time.

Cooper was in his office just as she expected. She walked in with her game face on and slammed the door in case he didn't get that she was angry.

Cooper was sitting at his desk. He looked up briefly and then glued his eyes to the computer screen in front of him.

"Cooper!"

Like a stubborn child, he refused to acknowledge her. He was still pretending she didn't exist. In anger, she slammed her hand down onto his desk. He flinched a little. No one ignores Charlotte King.

"Stop acting like such a child! I get that you're mad and you have every right to be, but you have to forgive Violet or at the very least, talk to her. She's your best friend Coop. Best friends forgive each other. And you've always put Violet first before, even when I was dating you."

He looked at her this time, but stayed silent. At least she had his attention.

"Violet's depressed Coop." She slumped down into a chair in front of his desk. "You know what she was doing last night?"

"No," he finally answered.

"She was crying. She was crying because you wouldn't pick up the phone and talk to her. You can't punish her for being with me. That's not fair. You can't help who you fall in love with."

"Charlotte," he said in steady even tones. "Get-."

He didn't get to finish his sentence because his phone rang, but she knew he wanted her to leave. She didn't care, she stayed seated.

"Dr. Freedman." A pause. "Okay, I'm on my way." He stood and frantically gathered all of his stuff. He was leaving, that much she was sure of, and he seemed to have forgotten that she was in the room.

"Cooper what's wrong?"

He looked at her, finally realizing that she was still there.

"It's Violet," he said. "She's been in an accident."


	26. To Bright Futures

**Part 26: To Bright Futures**

Charlotte was getting on the elevator with Cooper. It was only seconds ago that the call was made. An accident, Violet was in an accident and Charlotte was having trouble breathing, bordering on hyperventilating.

No one else was in the practice except them. It was early, even Dell wasn't there. Cooper was still not looking at her, but at this point all she could do was worry about Violet. What if something bad had happened? What if she had been hurt? What if she died?

She heard Cooper curse in front of her. "Dammit, move faster."

She assumed he was referring to the elevator.

She tried to steady her breathing, but it only got worse and the next thing she knew she was sobbing in the back of the elevator. Cooper turned at the sound. He realized at that moment that Charlotte truly cared for his best friend. She looked so small and pitiful. He knew he had to comfort her.

"Charlotte, she'll be okay. Don't cry," he said as he wrapped her up into a hug.

"I love her," she whispered.

"I know sweetie. Shh. I know."

0oo0oo0

"Ma'am, Can you hear me?"

Violet groaned and tried to move, but she couldn't. She didn't know where she was and everything hurt so much, especially her stomach. She reached down and brushed against something sharp and jagged.

_Glass._

There were shards of glass embedded in her abdomen, she realized. Then the pain became real and she started to scream. It hurt and the edges of her vision were fading black.

"Ma'am, stay with us. We're going to get you to a hospital real soon. Don't worry."

She felt herself being lifted and then heard a flurry of sirens and voices.

"Charlotte," she managed to get out in a ragged breathe.

0oo0oo0

Charlotte rushed into St. Ambrose, with Cooper following behind. She pushed her way to the front desk and demanded to know what room Violet Turner was staying in.

"She's in surgery, Dr. King," a very nervous nurse answered for her.

"Surgery?" She sounded small and lost.

"Ah," Cooper said stepping in, after realizing Charlotte wasn't able to function properly. "We're going to need to see her chart."

"I'm sorry," the nurse said. "But I can't-."

She finally snapped out of it and remembered that she was Chief of Staff here. "Just do it," Charlotte ordered. "Or you'll find yourself without a job come tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Dr. King."

And then they had it, the chart. Cooper was still amazed at how much power Charlotte had. Like he said before, giving her any type of power was a bad thing. Terrorizing the nurse was proof enough.

"A car crash," she began. "She was hit by an oncoming car going the wrong way on a one way street. The windshield shattered on impact and the windshield shards became embedded in her abdomen. Three large pieces that they could see, with multiple minor pieces. She also sustained a hairline fracture to her right radius and a mild concussion." She handed the chart over to Cooper looking visibly paler than before.

He looked over the chart then put an arm around her and started to lead her to the waiting room. She told him she wanted to go in the OR to check on Violet, but he wouldn't let her.

"All we can do is wait Char."

She nodded and took a seat next to him. Within the next half an hour Addison, Naomi, Sam and Dell showed up, all trying to comfort her and Cooper. She couldn't take sitting down anymore and got up from her chair and began to pace.

After watching her for a while Cooper got up too.

"Come on, let's go get some coffee," he said.

"Okay."

He took her to the cafeteria and sat her down.

"Charlotte."

"So you're talking to me now?" she said bitterly.

"Char don't do this now."

"I'm sorry."

"I think I should be saying that," Cooper admitted. "You were right. It was childish to ignore you two, but it hurt when Violet lied to me. I just needed time to forgive her. That's all. I never wanted to hurt her."

"So you'll talk to her now?" She sounded hopeful.

"Yeah, I'll even talk to you too."

"Thanks," she said dryly.

0oo0oo0

Violet woke up feeling very groggy, a little achy, but not in as much pain as she was before. She had no idea where she was, but she did know that she was lying on a bed between cool sheets. She could hear a beeping noise of some sort, echoing in the background.

She moved an arm sluggishly down to her stomach and winced when she made contact with stitches. She had almost forgotten about the glass. She opened her eyes to a dimly lighted hospital room. She was in St. Ambrose, she gathered. The room had a nice view of the ocean in the distance and it was private. Also it was empty or so she thought.

She scanned the room again. It was early morning, but there was just enough light so that she could make out a figure by the door.

"Charlotte?"

"Oh good, you're up," the blonde said as she strode across the room towards her.

"What happened," she asked with a scratchy voice.

The blonde sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand, the one that wasn't in a cast. "You were in an accident, but you're okay. There was windshield glass embedded in your abdomen. You were damn lucky there was no serious damage to any major organs. They were able to remove all the glass and stop any internal bleeding. You also broke your wrist, but it's just a hairline fracture, so don't worry about it and you sustained a mild concussion."

"I don't really remember the accident," she told the blonde.

"You blacked out. It happened yesterday morning. You were in surgery for the afternoon and we just let you sleep the rest of the day. It's six am, in case you're wondering."

"Oh."

"You scared me, you know. You made me break down crying in the elevator in front of Cooper. If you ever do that again, I'll never forgive you." The blonde's mouth was set in a stubborn line.

She smiled. "I'll try not to get into anymore car accidents. Can I have a kiss now?"

Charlotte smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss. "I think someone else wants to talk to you," the blonde told her before nodding her head in the direction of the door.

She looked in that direction and smiled. There was Cooper, standing there shyly with his hands stuffed into his pants pockets.

"Hey Vi," he said from the door way.

Charlotte leaned closer to her one more time and brushed her lips against hers. "I love you so much," the blonde whispered. Then Charlotte left nodding to Cooper on her way out.

"Finally up sleepy head," he joked as he pulled up a seat.

She tried to laugh, but it hurt. She closed her eyes and let the wave of pain pass. "Hey, you're talking to me," she said opening her eyes again.

"Yeah, I've decided to forgive you and also I'm an ass. I'm sorry I made you cry."

"Charlotte talked to you." It was a statement, not a question.

"She was worried. Besides she likes taking care of you. Check out your private room."

"Charlotte's doing?"

"Yep." He paused and brushed some stray curls out of her face. "So, friends again?"

"The best."

"Good. While you're recovering we'll have to catch up on all those movie nights. Ooo, and we should have a board game night. Have you ever seen Charlotte play monopoly?"

She shook her head no.

"It's hilarious. If she loses, she gets all red faced and angry and then she knocks over the board. She never figures out that I cheat."

"Cooper you're evil."

"Yeah well, it's totally worth it." He stopped and looked out of the window. She could see Charlotte pacing in the hall outside her room. "She's a changed woman isn't she? I think she's gotten nicer and she's more reasonable."

"She shares her feelings too," she added.

Cooper smiled disbelievingly. "She's happy now and hopelessly in love. I think I can say the same for you too."

She tried to smile, but it turned into a yawn instead. "I'm a little tired Coop."

He pressed a kiss into her hair and then left her to sleep.

Outside of Violet's room Charlotte watched the therapist fall asleep with Cooper standing beside her. After a few moments passed Cooper began to chuckle. She turned and cocked an eyebrow.

"Something funny Freedman?"

"I was just thinking about what you told me yesterday in my office yesterday." He turned and looked her in the eyes. "You can't help who you fall in love with," he laughed. "You're whipped Charlotte."

"Shut up and I like being whipped. You know that." She smiled wickedly at him and he blushed.

She sighed, becoming serious again. "She's okay."

"Yeah," Cooper agreed. "I think she's going to be just fine. She has you now."

"And you too," Charlotte added.

Together they watched Violet settle into a peaceful sleep. Everything was fine now. Everyone knew about Charlotte and Violet's relationship, Cooper was talking to both of them and Addison and Pete were hopelessly in love with a baby on the way. In short, the future looked bright.


	27. Epilogue

**Okay guys, this is the end of the story. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. With all the encouragment and comments, it's been a pleasure writing for you folks. Also I'm working on another story called Charlotte's Secret. It's a Charlotte/Cooper story with a little surprise, so be sure to check it out when I post it. Thanks again.**

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Epilogue:

A year and some odd months later.

Violet and Charlotte were sitting side by side wearing matching pale pink dresses. They were sitting at a round table outside on a large manicured lawn. Cooper, Sam, Naomi and Dell were all sitting at the table with them.

Today they were all attending the Wedding of Pete and Addison Wilder. Actually they were at the reception enjoying yummy wedding cake and watching the happy couple play with their three month old daughter. Pete and Addison had wanted a small intimate wedding, but Addison's family wanted to do the wedding Forbes-Montgomery style.

So they had a very big elaborate wedding. Including saying their 'I dos' in a one hundred year old cathedral and throwing their reception back at the Montgomery mansion. Everything was beautiful and perfect.

Cooper and Sam had both shared the title of best man, while Naomi was the maid of honor and Violet and Charlotte were bridesmaids.

Addison walked up to their table in her beautiful white gown with Pete by her side, carrying their daughter, Julia Charlotte Wilder.

"Can one of you hold her, while we dance," the redhead asked them.

Cooper and Charlotte immediately held out their arms.

"Cooper got to hold her last time," Charlotte complained.

The redhead laughed and handed her the baby. Charlotte grinned and stuck her tongue out at Cooper.

"Oh, really mature Char. Is this who you really want to leave your child with?" Cooper asked jokingly.

"I'm sure Julia will be fine," Addison said before Pete took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor.

Charlotte looked down into Julia's bright blue eyes and even though her hair was still baby-fine, she had inherited Addison's fiery locks.

"You're such a cute little girl. Yes you are," Charlotte said in her baby voice.

The rest of the table laughed, knowing very well that the prickly blonde southern woman had a soft spot for kids.

Violet leaned over a planted a kiss on baby Julia's chubby cheek and then another on her girlfriend's lips.

"So," she said as Charlotte handed the baby over to her. "Do you want one?"

The entire table was watching them with interest now. They knew the blonde had been hinting at having a little Charlotte Jr. of their own, but they also knew that Violet didn't like kids.

Charlotte looked at her pointedly. "You know I do."

Violet nodded her head and said, "Okay."

"Okay?"

Violet smiled. "I know you're not deaf Charlotte."

"Yes!" Cooper yelled. And they all turned to him. He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "I just like being an uncle."

**The End**


	28. Bonus Chapter One

**Bonus Chapter One:**

Violet had spent the last three days sitting on the couch, bored to death, with many more days of recovery to look forward too. So much had happened in the past week. Cooper had discovered her and Charlotte's not so secret relationship and shunned them. She had gotten into an accident, survived surgery and Cooper had realized that ignoring his best friend was about the dumbest thing he had ever done.

So now she was lying on the couch, listening to Charlotte bustle around in the kitchen. Charlotte had been devoted to her, night and day, taking care of all her needs. In all honesty she liked the special treatment and the way Charlotte would dote on her.

The doorbell rang and she could hear Charlotte scurrying to answer the door. Their guest turned out to be none other than Cooper.

The blonde led him to Violet and then left to return to the kitchen.

"Hey Vi. How are you feeling?"

"Bored," she said candidly. "Did you bring any movies?"

He grinned. "I hope you're ready to laugh," he said while holding up a few DVDs.

She smiled and pointed to the DVD player. "Put one in. I need some entertainment."

Cooper raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Isn't that Charlotte's job? You know she makes very hot catholic schoolgirl. Short plaid skirt, breast baring blouse and a lollipop. I bet she'd even let you lick-."

"Finish that sentence and I'll show you where I'll shove that lollipop," Charlotte threatened from the doorway. Apparently the blonde had been listening. Charlotte turned away from Cooper and focused her attention on Violet. "Do you have a strainer?"

"Second cabinet. Bottom shelf."

The blonde gave her a curt nod before marching back into the kitchen.

Cooper turned to her and gave her a quizzical look. "Is Charlotte cooking?"

"Yes."

"You know she can't cook, right?" He pointed out.

"I know."

Cooper stood and surveyed the room, frowning a little as he did. "It's kind of clean in here."

"Hey!" she protested. "I clean."

"Sure, you do. I'm guessing this is Charlotte's doing. When did she become such a happy little homemaker?" He laughed. "I can't believe you domesticated Charlotte King."

She crossed her arms carefully, but stubbornly. "I did not domesticate her."

"Cooking? Cleaning? These are not things that Charlotte does willingly."

There was a loud metallic bang from the kitchen followed by a slew of heavily accented curse words. The blonde's accent was always stronger when she swore.

"She's not domesticated," she insisted.

Cooper gave her a doubtful look and continued fiddling with the DVD player. "It's probably the lack of sex," Cooper said minutes later.

"What?"

"Charlotte needs sex on a regular basis. I think she's replacing sex with housework."

The door to the kitchen slammed open and they both turned to see the Charlotte with the house phone in her hand. "I ordered pizza," the blonde announced.

Cooper started to laugh, but Charlotte fixed him with a glare that would scare anyone. When Cooper was effectively silenced the blonde went on to fold a blanket Violet had pushed off the couch earlier.

"Housework," Cooper whispered.

Charlotte snapped her head around and glowered at him. "What was that?" Charlotte growled.

"Cooper has a theory," Violet piped up. She grinned evilly, as she watched Cooper squirm. Watching those two was definitely entertaining.

"No, I don't," Cooper said quickly.

"Yes, he does. Go ahead, tell her Coop," she jeered.

"Yeah, go ahead and tell me Coop," the blonde said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"You've been domesticated Charlotte," he informed. "And you're replacing sex with housework."

Charlotte looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Domesticated? You know just because Violet's bedridden doesn't mean I'm replacing sex with domestic chores. Violet can still give me _a hand_ everyone once in a while."

Cooper blushed. "Too much information Charlotte."

The blonde smirked. "Just setting the record straight."


End file.
